HUNDREDS more passengers are booking coaches to London as weekend trains are disrupted.

National Express has seen advance bookings on services between Colchester and the capital jump by nearly 80 per cent year-on-year.

Engineering work has been taking place on the line every weekend since January 31, as part of a £15million scheme to replace track in the Colchester, Marks Tey and Witham areas and change overhead wires in Chelmsford.

National Express is running direct coach services between all affected locations, including Colchester.

Tom Stables, managing director for coaches, said: “Our direct coach services from Colchester to London are proving very popular while the engineering works are causing a headache.”

A spokesman for Greater Anglia said: "Since 2012, when our franchise began, our partnership with Network Rail has minimised the number of weekends affected by disruptive engineering work.

“In 2013, 2014 and again in 2015, far fewer weekends involve all-day bus replacement.”