Weekends  from 26th February to 14th May Network Rail are renewing track and pointwork in the Thirsk area with the main line north of York being completely closed overnight from early Saturday evening.

During this time the last through Saturday evening train from London to the North East will be the 1647 from Kings Cross.

The 1918 from Kings Cross runs only as far as York where it terminates with no onward connection.

There will be an extra train  starting from York at 1923  to Sunderland with the usual stops . This is the last train, including those of Virgin East Coast and Trans-Pennine Express, to run north from York and does not connect  with services from London.

Neither Grand Central nor Northern increased any Durham Coast fares in January. However Northern are shortly to introduce a scheme to encourage passengers to pay before travelling whenever ticket vending facilitates (booking office or ticket machine) are available at the departure station. Any person boarding at one of these stations and buying a ticket on the train will be charged the full Anytime fare with no railcard discount. For example a return ticket from Hartlepool to Newcastle will be £10.10 even if travelling off peak (the normal off-peak fare is £8.50). This does not apply to stations with no such facilities, nor does it apply to Grand Central services where pay on the train is always permitted