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Tuesday 9 Sep 2025

Reminder: Plan ahead advice for rail upgrade work north of Newcastle

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

Passengers are reminded that there will be changes to journeys over the next two weekends because of various rail improvement projects.

Network Rail teams will be working at locations around the North East, meaning lines between Newcastle and Edinburgh will close on 13-14 and 20-21 September.

The engineering work includes new track, drainage systems, switches and crossings – also known as points – and improvements to overhead line equipment.

Nearly 1km of the drainage pipe system at Killingworth will be renewed to reduce delays caused by flooding issues. There will also be improvements to the track at Belford and Stannington; switches and crossings at Belford and Berwick; ballast at Newham level crossing; and overhead line equipment between Pegswood and Widdrington.

CrossCountry and TransPennine Express will have replacement bus services in place of trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh over both weekends.

LNER services will divert and operate an hourly train in each direction, via Carlisle. While trains will still operate, the alternative route means that journey times will be longer. Rail replacement coaches will connect LNER customers at Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston and Dunbar with Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.

There will also be changes to other LNER services across both weekends, including alterations to stopping patterns on northbound services, impacting Peterborough, Doncaster and Durham. Customers are encouraged to check LNER Travel Alerts and journey planner pages for full details.

All Lumo services will be between London King’s Cross and Newcastle only. On both Saturdays, the 20.56 Edinburgh to Newcastle service will not run.

Northern trains between Carlisle/Hexham and Morpeth/Chathill will terminate/start at Newcastle. Replacement bus services will operate between Newcastle and Morpeth/Chathill. Northumberland Line services between Newcastle and Ashington are unaffected.

ScotRail trains between North Berwick/Dunbar and Edinburgh will be replaced by buses on the Saturdays only.

Sam MacDougall, Network Rail operations director, said: “We’re investing in the future of rail in the North-East by carrying out these essential upgrades to track, points, drainage and overhead line equipment. These improvements will help deliver more reliable journeys for passengers and freight in the years ahead.

“We appreciate that this work will mean a couple of weekends of where some journeys will take longer than usual, and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out these improvements.”

A spokesperson on behalf of the train operators said: “Our teams will be working hard to keep passengers on the move towards their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible during this work. Latest travel information, including how customers’ journeys may be affected, can be found on our websites, social media channels, or at our stations.”

Check details of your journey with National Rail or your train operators before travelling.