Weekend of travel chaos for Scots travelling to England amid major works on the East Coast Main Line

Rail replacement buses are replacing several train services in the north-east of England on Saturday, while on Sunday all LNER services from Edinburgh to King’s Cross will terminate at Peterborough.

It comes at the same time as significant disruption to the west coast route following the closure of Glasgow Central this week.

All cross-border services from Glasgow Central have been affected due to the ongoing closure of the station’s high level platforms.

This weekend is the second week of disruption the east coast line, with planned works also scheduled for the weekends of March 21-22 and 28-29.

On Saturday, buses will replace CrossCountry train services between York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle, as well as TransPennine Express trains between York and Newcastle.

LNER are running an hourly service between Newcastle and York, while rail replacement buses will connect Durham and Darlington to Newcastle, York and Northallerton.

On Sunday, planned engineering works mean LNER trains will start and terminate at Peterborough, including services from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross.

Passengers will then be put on rail replacement coaches to Bedford, where they can get on Thameslink or East Midlands Railway services to London St Pancras.

Meanwhile, budget operator Lumo is running a reduced service with trains operating between Newcastle and Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street only.

In England, the works are also affecting services between York and Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport, Middlesbrough and Wakefield.

The work in the north-east includes the renewing of almost four kilometres of track, as well as new switches and train crossings.

Gunnar Lindahl, joint operations director for Network Rail and LNER, said:

“We’re carrying out a significant package of upgrades on the East Coast Main Line 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 well 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.”