Train services on the East Coast Main Line will be disrupted on each weekend throughout March.
Major upgrades between York and Newcastle will affect train services on all four weekends, while Saturday, 7th to Sunday, 29th March, while on Sunday, 15th March, services between Peterborough and London King’s Cross will also be affected. On all four weekends, there will be rail replacement bus services, but passengers should allow more time to complete their journeys.
Upgrade work in the North East includes the renewal of track, switches and crossings at Cowton, Croft, Aycliffe, Northallerton, and Low Fell. At Darlington, work will continue upgrading the station with the installation of overhead line equipment, switches, and crossings.
Further south, services between Peterborough and London King’s Cross will be disrupted on Sunday 15 March to allow testing to take place between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin of digital signalling installed as part of the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP).
Train operators running reduced services and/or replacement bus services on weekends from 7th to 29th March include CrossCountry, Grand Central, Lumo, Northern, TransPennine.
On Sunday, 15th March, LNER will operate an amended service, starting and terminating at Peterborough, with rail replacement buses Peterborough and Bedford for onward connections to London St Pancras. Thameslink and Great Northern services will not run between Potters Bar and Letchworth Garden City/St Neots, nor between Hertford North and Stevenage.
“We’re carrying out a significant package of upgrades on the East Coast Main Line this March to keep trains running safely and reliably for the millions of passengers who depend on the route. The improvements, including renewing track and switches and crossings as week as progress with the Darlington station upgrade and East Coast Digital Programme, are important steps towards an even more modern, greener, safer and more reliable railway. We appreciate this work does mean changes to weekend services, and we’re grateful to passengers for their patience while we complete these upgrades.”
Gunnar Lindahl, joint operations director – Network Rail East Coast and LNER
