Northern rail line reopens after safety inspection in Seaham leads to 60-minute delays

Northern services running between Sunderland and Thornaby were cancelled, delayed or diverted between Newcastle and Thornaby due to a safety inspection of the track in the Seaham area on Friday morning.

The disruption affected services from Newcastle towards Middlesbrough, with trains travelling from Middlesbrough towards Newcastle unaffected.

Northern confirmed that the line has reopened, with trains running through Hartlepool and Seaton Carew experiencing delays of up to 10 minutes after a fault with the signalling system on Friday afternoon.

Northern said at around 1.48pm on Friday: "Due to a fault with the signalling system between Hartlepool and Seaton Carew trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

“Train services running through these stations will be delayed by up to 10 minutes.”

Earlier on Friday, the train operator said: “Due to a safety inspection of the track between Sunderland and Thornaby some lines are blocked.

"Train services running through these stations will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or diverted between Newcastle and Thornaby.

"Services between Newcastle and Middlesbrough are currently being disrupted due to a safety inspection of the track in the Seaham area.

"Network Rail engineers are on site examining the track.

"Services from Newcastle towards Middlesbrough are unable to run as normal and will be diverted between Newcastle and Thornaby where possible.

"Customers should travel on diverted services, changing at Thornaby or Middlesbrough for services towards Hartlepool, Sunderland and Newcastle.”