Rail disruption between Newcastle and York for three…

Rail disruption between Newcastle and York for three more weekends - everything you need to know

North East passengers are set for more rail disruption for the next three weekends.

Only one train an hour will travel south of Newcastle Central Station as far down as York on this weekend coming (January 28 and 29) and the subsequent two (February 4 and 5, and 11 and 12) due to engineering works on the East Coast mainline, with other scheduled services replaced by rail replacement buses. The works have been ongoing since January 14 as part of a £6 million upgrade to Durham station.

There will also be disruption on Wednesday February 1 and Friday 3 as members of the Aslef Union go on strike. However, the disruption on the upcoming weekends is not related to industrial action by the RMT or Aslef.

Why are there so few trains between Newcastle and York?

Network Rail is undertaking engineering work at Durham Station, which means that few trains will be in operation between Newcastle and York. This affects several stations on the East Coast Mainline including Durham, Darlington and Northallerton.

The project will see ten points, the specialist pieces of equipment which allow trains to move from one section of track to another renewed, as well as 100 metres of track replaced. Network Rail is also upgrading signalling equipment in the area, and improving some platforms in Durham station to "reduce disruption, leading to smoother journeys for passengers."

Durham Train Station (Handout - Railway Heritage Trust)

What is each operator doing?

CrossCountry

No CrossCountry trains will run between Newcastle and York, with one replacement bus service an hour. There will be an hourly rail replacement service in place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 January, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February and Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 February, while work takes place.

A spokesperson for CrossCountry said: "We advise passengers check our website before they travel and allow extra time for their journeys."

LNER

One LNER train an hour will run between York and Newcastle extending journey times by approximately 60 minutes. Other services to and from London King's Cross will start from and terminate at York, and other services to and from Scotland will start from and terminate at Newcastle.

A rail replacement coach service will operate each way between York, Northallerton, Darlington Durham and Newcastle. You can find details on the LNER website here.

Lumo

Lumo will be running a normal service between Edinburgh and Newcastle, but there will be no trains at all between Newcastle and York. South of Newcastle, Lumo are operating one replacement coach each way between Newcastle and Northallerton, linking up with one train between Northallerton and London a day.

To check timings, please visit: https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-journey/our-timetable

Northern

Buses will replace trains between Eaglescliffe and Darlington/Bishop Auckland. There will be changes to some late night and early morning services between Middlesbrough/Saltburn and Carlisle, as well as Newcastle/Carlisle and Darlington. Buses will replace trains between Newcastle and Darlington/Thornaby.

TransPennine Express

TransPennine Express's services will start and terminate at York. Replacement buses will run between York and Newcastle.

A Transpennine Express spokesperson said: "Our advice is for customers to check before they travel and to plan their journey using the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner.

"Customers can find the location of their bus replacement by checking station signs or by searching for their station on our station information pages. All of our upcoming engineering works can also be found at Planned Engineering Works | TransPennine Express (tpexpress.co.uk)".

Will your journey be affected by the upcoming engineering works? Let us know!

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