Passengers warned of delays and cancellations during Newcastle station track upgrade
Rail passengers are being warned to expect disruption as an £8.6 million pound project to upgrade the railway at Newcastle station gets underway.
The work will take place over nine days between Saturday 6 January and Sunday 14 January, with train services returning to normal on Monday 15 January.
A total of 19 sets of 'switches and crossings' - more commonly known as points - will be upgraded, which is expected to bring long-term reliability benefits for the eight million passengers who use Newcastle station every year.
Switches and crossings are moveable pieces of track that guide trains from one route to another, and have a limited lifespan due to the immense wear they receive from heavy trains.
The units at Newcastle were installed in the 1980s and although regular maintenance has kept them in good working order for many years, they are now in need of replacing, having failed 15 times between January and October 2017.
The planned upgrade means some short-term changes to services to and from Newcastle while engineers carry out nine days of engineering.
The work means, almost 2,000 passenger trains and 260 freight which usually cross the city's King Edward Bridge unable to run.
Platforms 9-12 will also be out of use for the duration of the work too.
A revised timetable will be in operation with some services starting and/or terminating at York, Durham and the Metro Centre.
Buses will also be used to help move passengers between some stations, but trains to and from Newcastle will be extremely busy and passengers are advised to check before they travel.
Rob McIntosh, managing director for Network Rail's London North Eastern and East Midlands route said:
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together train companies and Network Rail to enable a better railway, said:
Virgin Trains, which manages Newcastle station, said it would provide extra staff and signage to help customers during the engineering works.
They will run a full timetable on weekdays, although southbound services from Edinburgh will run 15 minutes earlier until they reach Newcastle. They will then run as scheduled.
Its northbound services will be extended by up to 15 minutes. From 12.15 Saturday 13 January to 13.00 Sunday 14 January, Virgin Trains will run an hourly service between London King's Cross and Newcastle and Scotland. It will take a diversionary route between York and Newcastle with journey times extended by approximately 60 minutes, while some services will terminate at Darlington.
The majority of TransPennine Express services on the Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle & Manchester Airport to Newcastle routes will not run between York and Newcastle.
As a result, Thirsk, Northallerton, Darlington, Durham and Chester-le-Street stations will have a greatly reduced service. Passengers are advised to check before they travel via National Rail enquiries.