RAIL passengers face yet more New Year misery - this time because of engineering works in Durham that will affect consecutive weekend East Coast services from York right through to the middle of next month.

Network Rail says the £6 million project at Durham station will involve replacing 100 metres of track, renewing 10 'points' (which allow trains to switch from one track to another), improving platforms and upgrading signalling.

But the work will cause major disruption to weekend services between January 14 and February 12 - with buses replacing trains between York and Newcastle on CrossCountry services, and LNER services diverting and adding an hour to journeys.

Network Rail says the ' vital upgrades' will boost reliability and reduce disruption, leading to smoother journeys for passengers. But it is urging passengers to plan ahead and check before travelling over the next six weeks.

Services will be disrupted on five consecutive weekends, from January 14/ 15 right up until February 11/12.

During this time, weekend trains will terminate at York or Newcastle - but buses will replace trains on CrossCountry services between York and Newcastle to keep passengers moving.

LNER also plan to run one train per hour between the two cities using a diversion which will add around an hour to the journey.

The latest disruption comes following a series of strikes by the RMT and Aslef, which seriously disrupted rail services over Christmas and the New Year.

It also follows a major £6 million refurbishment of the rail tracks at York railway station between Christmas Eve and Monday, January 2 - work which was itself affected by the rail strikes.

Commenting on the latest engineering works at Durham, Paul Rutter, route director for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said passengers planning on travelling to, from or through Durham, Northallerton, Darlington and Chester-Le-Street were advised to plan ahead, allow extra time and to check their journey before setting off via National Rail or their train operator’s website.

He said: “The work we’re doing in and around Durham in January and February will help boost reliability and provide smoother journeys for passengers.

“To allow the work to take place safely, there will be significant changes to services for five consecutive weekends, so we’d urge passengers to plan ahead via National Rail Enquiries or with their train operator.”

A statement from East Coast train operators added: “We’re asking people to check before they travel to, from or through Durham station while important upgrade work takes place.

“We’ll be providing rail replacement services wherever we can to keep passengers moving.”

Ben Simkin, regional director for the North East and Scotland at CrossCountry said: “We appreciate our customers’ patience while this important engineering works takes place.

"The works will improve reliability for customers travelling through the region. In the meantime, there will be replacement buses between York and Newcastle on these weekends and we ask that customers check the website and allow extra time for their journeys.”