North Yorkshire’s East Coast Main Line to receive £6 million upgrade

Credit: Network Rail

Network Rail has announced it will be carrying out vital improvement works on the East Coast Main Line in North Yorkshire.

Credit: Network Rail

The £6 million project, part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan, will take place over an 11-week period on the North Yorkshire section of the East Coast Main Line. Work will be carried out to renew switches and crossings overnight at weekends to reduce disruption to passengers.

Switches and crossings to be renewed on East Coast Main Line

Rob McIntosh, route managing director at Network Rail said: “This investment in the East Coast Main Line at Thirsk is a vital aspect of our Railway Upgrade Plan, to provide a bigger and better railway for the millions of passengers who use this important north-south route. The completed project will provide a more reliable railway, something I know passengers want to see.

“We are doing this upgrade work overnight at weekends which is a time when fewer people use the railway, but there is never a good time to disrupt journeys and I apologise for any inconvenience caused during this essential piece of work.”

Richard McClean, managing director at Grand Central added: “We welcome Network Rail’s investment in track improvements which will have long term benefits.  However during the period of the improvements work we do recognise that it may have an impact on some of our customers travelling to and from Thirsk and on customers returning to the North East on Saturday evenings”

Ben Rule, production director at CrossCountry, said: “We would like to thank our customers affected by these works for their patience while they are undertaken. There is never a good time to not run trains to enable these important works to be completed, but by doing them at times when passenger numbers are much lower means we can keep this inconvenience to a minimum. Given the changes to our and other operators’ services, we would ask anyone travelling on these dates to check their journey details carefully.”

A spokesperson for Virgin Trains said: “On Saturday evenings between 4 March and 6 May, our last direct train service between London King’s Cross and Newcastle will depart earlier than usual at 17.30. Replacement coach services will be provided between York, Northallerton and Darlington on Saturday evenings during this period. On Sunday mornings between 5 March and 7 May, direct train services between Newcastle and King’s Cross will start later than normal.”