TENS of thousands of commuters face longer journey times as the biggest rail project in Nottingham for a generation gets under way.
Every day, 20,000 train passengers use Nottingham station, but almost all rail services have now been cancelled until the end of August.
A fleet of 750 rail replacement buses is ferrying passengers to nearby stations including East Midlands Parkway, with up to 35 leaving every hour.
The work is part of a £100 million project to replace six miles of track around the station, and add a new platform. More than 140 signals will also be replaced.
However, the work means that for the next five weeks, journeys between Nottingham and destinations across the country will take longer than usual.
People travelling to London can usually get to St Pancras in just under 100 minutes, but it will take nearly two-and-a-half hours. Journeys to Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham could also take anything between an extra 20 minutes to an hour.
David Thornhill, from Notts Campaign for Better Transport, said: "It will be an experiment because nothing like this has happened before. But they've been planning for a long time and it will deliver huge benefits when it's done."
What do you think? E-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk or tweet using the hashtag #nottmstation
