Over four consecutive weekends in September and October, engineers will be carrying out work on the northern part of the East Coast Main Line between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

The work will take place on the weekends of Saturday and Sunday 16/17, 23/24, 30 September and 1 October, and 7/8 October.

During these weekends, Network Rail engineers will upgrade the track, renew switches and crossings, upgrade the overhead line equipment, improve drainage, and remove vegetation.

The work is designed to enhance the reliability of services in this area, create a more resilient railway, and provide passengers with a smoother and more reliable journey.

London North Eastern Railway will be operating a reduced service via an alternative route, but that will result in increased journey times.

In addition, coach replacement services will be operating between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston and Dunbar, and between Newcastle and Morpeth/Chathill.

Services that do run are expected to be busy, and customers should make seat reservations in advance. Further details can be found at lner.co.uk.

Unfortunately, there will be no Lumo services between Newcastle and Edinburgh on these weekends, and coaches will replace trains. Full details of these can be found at https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-journey/planned-engineering-works.

Passengers intending to travel on these weekends should plan ahead and check before they travel via National Rail Enquiries or with their train operator.

Jason Hamilton, Route Programme Director for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said: “This work is vital and will help to boost reliability on this historic rail route and improve journeys for all those using the East Coast Main Line.

“These upgrades do mean there will be significant changes to services on these dates, so we would urge passengers to plan ahead and check before travelling so they can see how their journeys are going to be affected.

“We’d like to thank all those impacted for their patience whilst this crucial work takes place.”

A spokesperson on behalf of train operators on routes affected said: “The work between Newcastle and Edinburgh will result in disruption to services across four weekends in September and October, so we urge passengers to follow the advice given and check their journey before travelling.

“Rail replacement services and diversion routes will be in place to keep people moving but this will result in longer journey times and services may be busier than usual.”