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Wednesday 22 Sep 2021

Network Rail begins vital railway upgrades near Newcastle this weekend – passengers urged to check their journeys over next five weekends

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

Network Rail is carrying out vital railway upgrades near Newcastle this weekend to bring more reliable journeys for passengers.

On Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September, teams will be renewing the track – as well as the wooden sleepers which support it – north of Newcastle, near Manors station. Engineers will also upgrade the overhead line equipment and improve the signalling system in the area over the next five weekends.

The work will bring smoother, more reliable journeys and reduce the amount of maintenance which is required in future.

For this work to take place safely, a section of the line will be closed and the following changes to services between Newcastle and Edinburgh will be in place over the weekend:

• An hourly LNER service will run to/from Scotland, which will be diverted via Carlisle, extending journey times. Other LNER services to/from London will start/end at Newcastle with replacement coach services connecting passengers between Newcastle, Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Dunbar and Edinburgh.
• Buses will replace CrossCountry services between Newcastle and Edinburgh.
• Buses will replace Northern trains between Newcastle and Morpeth / Chathill.
• TransPennine Express services will not run between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Trains between York and Edinburgh will terminate at Newcastle.

Further work will also take place over the next five weekends. Passengers can find out how their journeys will be affected with their train operator or via National Rail Enquiries. They are also advised to allow plenty of time. 

Paul Rutter, Route Director for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said: “This work to upgrade the track and signalling near Newcastle will boost reliability for passengers travelling on the northern part of the East Coast Main Line. It will also reduce the amount of maintenance required and prevent future disruption to services.

“We can only carry out this work safely when the section of the line is closed, and we’ve worked closely with train operators to plan these improvements. Some trains are being diverted and we have bus replacements in place to keep passengers on this part of the route moving. We advise passengers to check their journey and allow plenty of time.”

ENDS