Train passengers face disruption over six weekends

Darlington Station is undergoing a £140m regeneration

Train passengers are facing six weekends of travel disruption due to engineering works.

East Coast Main Line services between Newcastle and Northallerton, North Yorkshire, are being diverted meaning longer journeys or bus replacements.

Meanwhile, there are no trains to or from Darlington or Durham over the affected weekends, Network Rail said.

Weekend disruption will also hit thousands of Newcastle United fans travelling to London for the League Cup final at Wembley on 16 March. Network Rail said it would cost "several million pounds" of taxpayers' money to change the plans.

It previously said it was working with LNER to see "as many services as possible run" that weekend, with thousands of fans set to travel to London.

The works come after separate East Coast Main Line upgrades also affected services at the end of January and beginning of the month.

LNER, Lumo, Grand Central, Northern, TransPennine Express, and CrossCountry services are operating a reduced service and have put on various bus replacement services.

People have been asked to plan their journeys in advance.

Network Rail and the train operators apologised to passengers and nearby residents.

The projects being worked on include the £140m regeneration of Darlington station, which will see a new step-free footbridge lifted into place and the creation of walkways beside the line around Durham station.

The old Allerdene bridge in Gateshead will also be demolished as part of the National Highways' A1 upgrade work. However, because the structure spans all lines of the East Coast Main Line just south of Newcastle, its removal requires measures to protect the track and overhead line equipment, Network Rail said.