Emergency buses have been drafted in to ease pressure on the overcrowded East Coast Main Line.

Four buses have been put on standby outside York, Newcastle, Peterborough and London stations, to supplement the emergency timetable.

GNER spokesman Dave Mallender said the buses were to offer onward travel to those passengers unable to board full trains.

"It is better to have standby measures in place," he said, "rather than scratching around at the last minute trying to organise transport."

And rail passengers were facing more delays today after it emerged that up to 300 sites on Britain's rail network could suffer temporary speed restrictions.

Although a Railtrack spokesman confirmed none of the sites were in the York area, 22 have been identified on the East Coast Main line, which has reduced GNER to running only 80 per cent of their usual trains due to speed restrictions and diversions.

The problem was only identified within the past 12 months and is suspected of triggering the Hatfield crash, Railtrack said.

The discoveries have led to speed restrictions on tracks at 206 places in the country, but this is expected to rise as another 150 sites where cracks are "possible" are inspected.

GNER trains usually serving Bradford and Skipton are running only as far as Leeds with Northern Spirit providing normal connecting services at Leeds to destinations in West Yorkshire.

For further travel information, passengers can contact 08457 484950 or view the full revised timetable on the Internet at www.gner.co.uk