Signalling project work to impact bank holiday trains between North East and London
Trains between the North East and London will be impacted by work over the upcoming bank holiday weekend.
Testing ahead of digital signalling being introduced on the East Coast Main Line will affect journeys on the August bank holiday weekend.
Engineering work will affect passenger journeys south of Peterborough towards London between 8pm on SAturday, August 29 and 8am on Monday, August 31. This will include journeys between London and the North East in both directions including LNER and Lumo services from Newcastle and Grand Central services from Sunderland.
The work forms the final stages of testing ahead of the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme’s introduction of digital in-cab signalling. This will replace traditional lineside ‘traffic light’ signals with real‑time information sent directly into the driver’s cab.
Network rail claim it will deliver more reliable, greener and even safer journeys.
No Grand Central services will run on the Sunday of the weekend, while the Saturday 5:32pm service from Sunderland and Monday’s 7:48am service from Kings Cross will not run.
A revised LNER timetable will operate, with trains starting and terminating at Peterborough. A bus service will run between Peterborough and Bedford. This will also impact late Saturday evening, and early Monday morning.
On Sunday only, a limited LNER service will operate between Newcastle and Bedford, via Doncaster, also connecting with Thameslink services to and from London.
Customers travellingbetween stations on the LNER route in the North East are advised to avoid travel via Sheffield and Chesterfield, as CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway services on this route will be extremely busy according to Network Rail.