Thousands of passengers looking to travel down south have been issued a warning as there will be no direct trains between London and Scotland this weekend.
Sections of both the East Coast and West Coast main lines are set to be closed by National Rail on Saturday and Sunday for works to be carried out. As a result Journeys between London and Scotland will be significantly slower than usual and require at least one change.
Operators affected by the upcoming closures, which will impact services departing from both Glasgow and Edinburgh stations, include Avanti West Coast, LNER and Lumo.
An itinerary suggested by National Rail Enquiries for passengers travelling from London to Edinburgh on Saturday morning involves three trains and one bus. That journey is expected to take a total of six hours and 12 minutes, nearly two hours longer than the normal direct service.
Thousands could be impacted by the disruption, resulting in a watchdog speaking out as 'this situation should not happen'.
Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: "Passengers will be disappointed to see both East and West Coast lines closed due to engineering works this coming weekend. This situation should not happen.
"One line should be kept open so that passengers from Scotland and the north of England have access to a direct train service to London.
"Both train operators and Network Rail must ensure that there is effective communication to support passengers."
A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "We always try to have a direct cross-border route open, but that has not been possible on this occasion.
"The industry – both Network Rail and train operators – have looked at the alternatives, all of which cause more disruption for passengers.
"We also have a congested work programme caused by landslips, floods and strikes, severely limiting those alternatives.
"We understand the inconvenience this will cause to some of our customers and wish to reassure them that this will be a one-off."
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