The stretch of railway between Colchester and Shenfield will be subject to major upgrade work from next week (May 18th). 

Network Rail announced that this represents the start of the second phase of a major project to improve the reliability of the line between London and Norwich.

One of the organisation's fleet of high output ballast cleaners will carry out the work, which involves renewing the bed of stones the metal rail lies on. 

The machine has already been working between Norwich and Ipswich for five nights a week - and each of these shifts has been completed on time. 

This has seen over 14 miles of rail track renewed more quickly and efficiently than traditional methods allow. 

Network Rail route managing director Richard Schofield said: "With this technology, we can renew the railway while trains are still running but there will be some changes to services, and we thank passengers in advance for their patience."