Trains diverted after gas leak near Durham railway station

A gas leak near the station caused a number of services to be diverted or cancelled, with delays of up to 40 minutes on trains between Newcastle and York.

Transpennine Express and Northern Trains services were also affected by the incident, which began at around 11.30am and lasted an hour.

Engineers from Northern Gas Networks (NGN) arrived on site shortly after 11.35am, after a pipe close to the rail line was damaged.

Gas engineers are on site and have capped the leak, but investigations as to what caused the incident are continuing.

Customer Operations Area Manager for Northern Gas Networks, John Richardson, said:  “The safety of members of public is our number one priority.

"Due to the close proximity of the railway line to the gas escape, the East Coast main line was closed through Durham while we worked to control the escape.

“We’ll continue the repairs this afternoon, but would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused in the meantime and thank everyone for their patience.”

Anyone that smells gas or suspects carbon monoxide should call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800-111-999. This line is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.