One of the country’s biggest rail terminals will be ‘effectively closed’ today because of over-running engineering works. There will be no trains in or out of King’s Cross in London due to delays to Network Rail works north of the station. The disruption comes on one of the busiest travel days of the year, as thousands of people try to return home after visiting family for Christmas. Scroll down for video. Services in and out of London Kings Cross station have been cancelled today, it has been announced. Frustration: Travellers at the London station, one of the busiest in the country, where services are cancelled. The disruptions at the station, which is managed by Network Rail, will affect those planning to travel on East Coast, First Hull Trains, Grand Central and Great Northern services. East Coast Trains made the announcement on its website yesterday evening, where it advised passengers to delay their travel if possible. It also said that a revised timetable is currently being developed and will be made available as soon as possible. Customers have been advised they need to start or finish their journey at Finsbury Park in north London, with at least one change of train because of the overrun works in the Holloway area. A reduced service to and from the station will go ahead as planned on Sunday, with trains  leaving up to 20 minutes earlier than normal from King's Cross. Last night Passenger Focus, the independent watchdog, described the delays as ‘frustrating’. East Coast made the announcement on their website and apologised for disruption on what is 'an already very busy travel day immediately following the Christmas break' They follow years of complaints from passengers that Britain’s railways effectively ‘shut down’ over the Christmas and New Year holiday. The chaos is heightened by the fact that the West Coast Main Line is already closed for engineering works over the Christmas period. The route is shut between London Euston and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire until Monday, and also closed between Stafford and Crewe until Sunday. Last night travellers vented their frustration with the King’s Cross closure on social media, saying Network Rail had ‘explaining to do’. The station is the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, which provides services to major cities including Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. East Coast spokesman, Paul Emberley, said: 'Network Rail has apologised to passengers for the inevitable delays to their travel plans on Saturday as a result of the overrunning engineering works. 'East Coast is particularly sorry too for the inconvenience to its customers as a result, on what we know is an already very busy travel day immediately following the Christmas break. Sources said that the station would effectively be closed  due to delays to works north of the station. 'For customers intending to start or finish their journey at King's Cross, consideration should be given to deferring travel plans to either Sunday or Monday. 'We're working hard over the holiday period to make the necessary adjustments to our timetable as a consequence, and to provide as much information as we can.' National Rail said on its website that services to and from King's Cross would be 'significantly disrupted' tomorrow. It said there will be no trains before 10am tomorrow and over the weekend, many trains will start or terminate at Doncaster, Peterborough, Stevenage or Finsbury Park. Meanwhile, First Hull Trains will run two trains in each direction each day to and from London St Pancras International instead of London Kings Cross. Great Northern are diverting some trains to and from Moorgate between 8.30am and 7.30pm. It said:  'A revised timetable is currently being developed and will be made available as soon as possible. Please check our website regularly for updates. 'Passengers travelling to and from central London may use London Underground services between Finsbury Park and central London. Customers will need to start or finish their journey at Finsbury Park in north London, with at least one change of train, according to East Coast Trains. 'Buses will run between London Kings Cross and Finsbury Park when there is no train or London Underground service.' The rail company said that the work was part of a £200 million Christmas investment programme. It is one of 300 projects being undertaken over the holidays across 2,000 sites up and down the country by some 11,000 railway engineers. A spokesman said: 'What has happened is really regrettable and unfortunate, but it is a small part of a massive amount of engineering investment taking place over Christmas.' The spokesman added that 4.5 million passengers use the railways on average every day, compared with two million a day over the holidays. The company confirmed the disruption at around 8.30pm on its Twitter page - hours after it was first announced by East Coast Trains, which said: 'No service between Kings Cross & Finsbury Park tom due to track work in the Holloway area which has taken longer then expected. Apologies.' Hundreds were forced to take to the roads yesterday after rail services were virtually non-existent today. A reduced service will also operate to and from the terminal on Sunday as planned, with journeys possibly being re-timed or taking longer than expected, according to Network Rail. David Sidebottom, passenger director at the independent watchdog Passenger Focus, said: 'Investment in maintenance and improvement is necessary, and we passengers understand that. 'But overrunning works that disrupt already-limited festive travel are frustrating. 'Our research is clear: passengers want to be kept on the train wherever possible, they want to know before buying a ticket if part of the journey will be by bus, and they want plenty of staff on hand to signpost where to go and what to do. 'We will be looking to see that operators and Network Rail are doing all in their power to alert passengers, to help them make alternative arrangements and to make it easy for them to claim refunds or compensation.' Several frustrated passengers have taken to Twitter to vent their anger. Liam Gladdy said: 'Something must have gone very, very wrong for @networkrail at Kings Cross if they're looking at overrunning by 2 days for 2 days work.' While Amelie Soleil wrote: 'Ahhh what's that? All trains are cancelled coming though Kings Cross tomorrow. Brilliant. Nice to see that £200 train ticket was worth it.' Emily Clifton said: 'Trains all cancelled from King's Cross tomorrow literally what am i supposed to do,' while another user said 'The UK are so unprepared. Today it's just like 'Oh, by the way, we're closing King's Cross for a few days.' It comes after a day of travel disruption on the railways as every single major artery in Britain was closed on Boxing Day. Trains between England and Scotland or Wales on the East Coast, West Coast or Great Western mainlines - and the Midland, Cross Country and East Anglia lines remained shut yesterday. The near-non-existent Boxing Day service has returned this year despite a fierce political battle over the shutdown dating back to at least 2007. Labour and Tories have repeatedly traded accusations over the lack of service, which affects football fans, families without cars and shop workers in the Boxing Day sales. Apart from airport shuttles and Eurostar, only Chiltern, Scotrail, Southeastern and Southern ran trains yesterday. A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘Network Rail and train companies have ensured that a large part of the railway will remain open during the Christmas/New Year period and alternative routes are provided where lines are closed.’
What are the important parts of this article?
East Coast, First Hull Trains, Grand Central and Great Northern lines hit. Planned works in Holloway area of London were not completed in time. Customers advised to  start and finish journey at Finsbury Park instead. Thousands expected to make post-Christmas return journey on Saturday. East Coast Trains apologised for cancellation on a 'very busy travel day' National Rail said  services would be 'significantly disrupted' tomorrow.