WEEKEND rail passengers will face months of replacement bus misery as a series of engineering work was announced.

The mainline between Shenfield and London will be blocked every weekend from September 17 until November 6 while Network Rail carries out maintenance and improvement work.

It is the second time this year that Greater Anglia passengers have had to put up with long spells of weekend disruption - commuters had to put up with three months of service alterations during the winter and spring.

For customers using the Southend Victoria branch line, the problems will start even earlier.

Engineering work to replace overhead lines will close the track between Wickford and Southend Victoria on the weekends of September 3/4 and September 10/11.

The mainline closure is to allow further work to take place ahead of the introduction of Crossrail, which will eventually run from Shenfield in the east to Reading in the west, via central London, when the line opens fully in 2019.