East Coast Main Line: Disruption at Durham and Darlington

The incident was first reported at 6pm on Saturday, with delays of up to 40 minutes affecting services heading towards Darlington.

Disruption is expected to continue until around 8pm.

Several rail companies are impacted, including LNER, CrossCountry, Lumo and TransPennine Express, with services either delayed or subject to alteration while the issue is resolved.

Network Rail staff are due to arrive on site and will work to fix the fault and say they will “reopen the affected lines as soon as possible”.

Passengers are being urged to check before they travel, with National Rail advising customers to use its real-time journey planner for the latest updates.

Rail users affected by delays may also be entitled to compensation.

Travellers are advised to keep their tickets and make a note of their journey details to support any claim.