Sunderland football fans’ route to Wembley will not be hampered after rail engineering works were re-planned and extra trains provided for the club’s appearance in the Capital One Cup final.

Thousands of Black Cats supporters are expected to make the journey south to cheer on their team at Wembley Stadium in the Wearsiders’ first cup final appearance in 22 years on Sunday, March 2nd 2014.

Network Rail has worked with train operators East Coast and Grand Central to help fans get to Wembley in time for kick off – and home again after the match.

Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “Every weekend we have hundreds of engineers out on the tracks working to maintain and improve our railway.

“The weekend of the Capital One Cup final was no exception.

“Moving engineering work is not a simple undertaking but we know what a big occasion this is for the club and have worked hard with operators and the Football Association to get fans to the capital by rail.

“The decision to re-plan some of our engineering work was only taken after meticulous checks that we could do so safely, without impacting train performance on the East Coast Main Line.

“The renewal of a major junction at Colton, south of York has been re-planned for the summer.

“We have also re-timed track renewals at Templehirst, drainage work at East Boldon and track work at Seburn to make sure trains can run at the best times for fans.”