Network Rail and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) have issued advice to Middlesbrough FC fans travelling to Wembley this weekend.

Engineering work will be underway in North Yorkshire, including point renewal, drainage system upgrades, and landslip mitigation.

LNER services between Darlington and York will not operate with replacement coaches in place between the two stations.

Both LNER and Network Rail are working to create practical mitigations for passengers, including the provision of an additional service between York and London.

Additionally, the City of York Council and First Bus have extended the opening hours of Park and Ride facilities until midnight to provide more flexibility.

Fans are advised to allow extra time for queuing, plan ahead when travelling via alternative routes, consider other methods of transport and map out return journeys.

Journeys can be checked online, and park and ride information can be found here.

“We appreciate this is a huge day for Middlesbrough fans and colleagues across the railway are working hard to keep as many customers as possible on the move over the weekend, including those from Teesside heading to Wembley.

“The engineering work between Darlington and York has been planned for many months and cancelling it at this late stage would cost more than £3m. It would also result in further disruption in the future with further weekend closures being required, resulting in more disruption for customers.

 “We are expecting rail services across the East Coast Main Line to be very busy over the weekend. We would urge customers to plan ahead and leave extra time for their journeys, and want to thank people in advance for their patience and understanding.”

Gunnar Lindahl, joint operations director for LNER and Network Rail