VIRGIN Trains is bolstering weekend services connecting Edinburgh and Newcastle following a surge in passengers crossing the border.

Six new departures between the cities will be added from this weekend in the latest boost to the east coast timetable.

They include later services from Edinburgh on Friday and Saturday evenings, leaving at 10pm and 8pm, and three new trains connecting the UK and Scottish capitals on Sundays.

The additional services will provide more capacity than ever as passengers plan festive breaks, shopping trips and visits to relatives in the run-up to Christmas and Hogmanay.

It follows news that 5,000 more Virgin Trains passengers are crossing the border every week after a timetable shake up in May which delivered 42 additional services between Edinburgh, Newcastle and London.

An additional 26 departures per week have been introduced at Morpeth, in Northumberland, with the later Edinburgh departures also calling at Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Alnmouth.

The new timetable takes effect from December 11 and will add 22 new services, 12,000 additional seats per week and dozens of extra stops to the network. It comes as Virgin Trains nears completion of a total overhaul of its entire train fleet.

David Horne, Virgin Trains’ managing director on the east coast route, said: “We know that there’s particularly strong demand at weekends so we’re delighted to be able to provide more services than ever for people travelling between Scotland and England.”