North East faces further rail disruption after heavy rain leaves passengers stranded

Flooding has caused serious travel disruption in our region Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Disruption is expected on much of the rail network this weekend after flooding and power cuts amid heavy rainfall.

Hundreds of people were left stranded at Newcastle Central Station due to the cancelled services north to Scotland, with huge queues for replacement buses and passengers told they may have to wait up to five hours to board.

On the Tyne and Wear Metro, a serious fault caused by flood damage at a Network Rail substation on the Sunderland line means there will be no service beyond Park Lane.Network Rail engineers are assessing the damage to determine a timescale for repairs, but it is expected to take at least 7 days.

Tyne and Wear Metro are operating a 24-minute service between Pelaw and Park Lane, with no trains travelling to University, Millfield, Pallion or South Hylton. A 20 minute service will operate on Sunday, as normal.

Stagecoach bus services 8,10,11 and 20 are accepting Metro tickets between Sunderland and South Hylton.

Sunderland and Gateshead are among the places facing travel disruptions to rail networks, metro lines, roads and bus services.

And major disruption is expected between Newcastle and Edinburgh until the end of Saturday because of flooding which had blocked the line on Friday.

A spokesman said on Friday: “Flooding between Newcastle and Edinburgh means all lines are currently blocked.

“No trains can currently run in either direction and will be either cancelled or revised.

“Major disruption is expected until the end of the day tomorrow (Saturday).”

Rail passengers queue outside Newcastle train station for replacement buses after trains to Scotland were cancelled due to flooding Credit: Dave Higgens/PA

He added: “Due to forecasted severe weather in Scotland, speed restrictions have been put in place on a number of routes.

“As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed, revised or suspended. This is expected until at least 12pm on Saturday.

“Most of the restrictions are on the network which only ScotRail run. However, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, LNER, Lumo and TransPennine Express customers may also be affected.”

The warning comes after customers were advised not to travel on several affected routes on Friday.

The spokesman said: “Disruption is expected to continue into Saturday morning until all lines have been checked to ensure it is safe to run trains.”