RAIL passengers are set to face train chaos as a crucial main line will be closed for a £1.4b upgrade.
The East Coast Main Line will be shut between Doncaster and Northallerton on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
The closure will impact the crucial line between Yorkshire and King’s Cross, a critical line that serves thousands of passengers.
LNER, the main train operator on the 62-mile stretch will run trains from London to Doncaster and from Northallerton to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Northern Scotland.
For those who are hoping to travel from Doncaster to Darlington a two-hour rail-replacement bus awaits.
The disruption will also impact CrossCountry and TransPennine Express trains, reported the Independent.
There will be no service between London King’s Cross and Sunderland operating with Grand Central.
Affordable train company, Lumo will only be running trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh.
Travellers in the West Midlands should take note that all lines through Coventry will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.
This will impact major intercity links between London, Birmingham northwest England and Scotland.
Similarly, rail replacement buses will be running between Birmingham International and Rugby.
The disruption means the quickest journey time between London Euston and Coventry will be doubled – from 54 minutes to 102.
Anglo Scottish trains from London via the West Midlands will go no further than Birmingham Internattional.
There will be longer journeys for passengers heading to London from Manchester on the Trent Valley line as the service will call at Rugby and Watford Junction.
Travellers hoping to reach Stansted Airport from the Midlands should be warned that the line between Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge North will be closed.
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “There is never a good time to close parts of the rail network, but maintaining and upgrading the railway is vital to ensure its safe operation for the millions of people who use it every day.
“Unlike strike action, the vast majority of work is planned months and often years in advance so that disruption is kept to a minimum; cancelling engineering work at short notice would cost millions.
“We acknowledge that some journeys will be affected, and, as ever, we would remind rail passengers to check before they travel.”
The above travel chaos comes despite the planned November 1 strike for RMT union members working for CrossCountry being called off.
National Rail told its passengers online CrossCountry will be operating on a normal timetable with a full service but the planned engineering might still cause some disruptions.
