A MAJOR upgrade to the East Coast Mainline including a controversial timetable change will be delayed for at least a year. 

The £1.2bn upgrade proposes up to 40 more train services and 20,000 extra seats from next May after continuous engineering work over the last few years. 

A new timetable was also proposed to come into force from May 2022 but faced criticism from North East leaders. 

And now, Network Rail has confirmed the planned 2022 timetable change will not be introduced next year. 

It has written to the Department for Transport to recommend the changes are delayed until 2023 “or beyond”. 

Rail bosses feared the proposed timetable change would lead to a repeat of the chaos seen in May 2018 when timetable changes created huge delays and disruption across the country. 

Plans for a new East Coast Mainline timetable were described as a ‘kick in the teeth’ for the region and was also branded as‘The Great LNER Train Robbery’ by Darlington’s MP Peter Gibson. 

The timetable is set to increase the number of trains between Newcastle and London from two to three trains per hour.

The change will also half the frequency of trains between Newcastle and Manchester via Durham and Darlington.

LNER defended its proposed timetable and said it will contribute to “improved rail journeys to support the economies and communities along our route”.

But the rail operator experienced problems after cracks were identified in a ‘small number’ of its trains following reports of the problem in some Hitachi trains earlier this year. 

The Northern Echo:

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen described the delay as a "great victory" for the local area. 

He said: "It is fantastic that the government and Network Rail have recognised that this timetable proposal was ill advised and was going to cost services and delay connectivity and would have been terrible for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“It’s great that we have been able to take the fight to the government and Network Rail so that they understand the impact these disastrous changes would have had and working with colleagues across industry and other local authorities, our voice has been heard.

“This is the right decision but now we must make sure that when it is introduced next year that we see significant improvements.

“This is a great victory for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool and I will never stop fighting for our area.”

Paul Rutter, Route Director for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said: “This new timetable aims to deliver significant improvements and is too important to take any chances on its smooth introduction.

“There are a number of issues still to be resolved, along with feedback provided during the consultation process to review.

“With the deadline looming to lock-down the new timetable for next year, the industry has taken the difficult, but sensible decision that it now won’t be introduced in May 2022.”

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