There will be no direct Virgin Trains' services to or from London Euston and there will be a replacement bus service running between Birmingham International and Northampton, although trains will run from Northampton to the capital on a revised timetable.

London Midland users travelling to Birmingham will have to take a replacement bus service between Northampton and Coventry, and a train from there to Birmingham.

Shaun Hope, of Northampton Rail Users' Group, said: "The work has been planned and there is not a lot we can do about it because it's part of the upgrade of Rugby station, which has been planned for some time.

"It's unfortunate we don't get any of the benefits of it. It's more work which affects us but there's no gain for Northampton.

"It won't have a massive impact on people in Northampton but if you're going to Birmingham then it's a problem.

"There are people who work there at the weekends so it affects them.

"It doesn't have a major impact here, it's just the inconvenience.

"At least it's the weekend so it doesn't affect the majority of users. We hope it goes to plan and doesn't overrun."

The closures are taking place on the line as part of a major upgrade, which is scheduled to be completed by December.

Previous work at Rugby – which took place over Christmas and New Year – caused travel chaos when it overran.

The blunders saw Network Rail fined £14 million by the Office of Rail Regulation as a result.