Northumberland Line - reopened December 2024, further developments possible

[whole diary]

[RichardB]

Delighted to see the announcement from Northumberland County Council that the Northumberland Line (Newcastle - Ashington) will open on Sunday 15 December.

https://twitter.com/N_landCouncil/status/1863531447702749500

[chuffed]

Dare I suggest that Portishead has now moved to the top of the Dft list...I await with bated breath....

[Andy]

I think an "HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) light" as far as Crewe will probably head any railway-building ambitions but have faith that Portishead will go ahead. I'm hoping that Tavistock, too, won't be shelved.   

[IndustryInsider]

Delighted to see the announcement from Northumberland County Council that the Northumberland Line (Newcastle - Ashington) will open on Sunday 15 December.

https://twitter.com/N_landCouncil/status/1863531447702749500

Plenty of YouTube videos from the likes of Geoff Marshall are up, to celebrate yesterday's reopening, and give us a feel for the new line. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3z_Wvdq7lo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E77BX1I3zdw

And it made the national news:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV4F9o09rzQ

There's also a recent cab ride during the testing phase:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3MMH84RhgM

And an older one before the reopening works, so you can see what's changed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5_-4oGKoy8

And finally, you can watch the service 'live' here:

https://signalmaps.co.uk/#ashington:1298

[Oxonhutch]

With those before and after cab rides, I can now see where £260M went! And very nice to see too. We need more projects like this one.

I'm sure some forum members could think of a few other projects that have been in a logjam for some time!

[Mark A]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news article. From a standing start, ~ 250,000 passenger journeys expected by Easter, against estimates before opening of 50,000.

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74nq19w100o

[GBM]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news article. From a standing start, ~ 250,000 passenger journeys expected by Easter, against estimates before opening of 50,000.

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74nq19w100o

A good problem to have!

[IndustryInsider]

Managed to get up to the North East to take a look last week.

Very impressive passenger numbers with all trains I saw loading well, and, on average, better than the long established service to Cramlington and Morpeth.

One Ashington train I caught from Manors in the peak was full and standing to Newsham.  When you consider Northumberland Park (with Metro interchange), Blyth Bebside and Bedlington stations have yet to open, a 3/4 unit will be needed on many trains before long.

Speaking of the new stations, Blythe Bebside looked quite advanced, but the other two, especially Bedlington are still a long way off of opening.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s next summer for Bedlington.

At Ashington the eyesore building near the station was being demolished with a much more welcoming square to replace it.

All in all very impressive.  I’ll try and upload a few photos when I get chance.

[Timmer]

Great and encouraging report IndustryInsider.

How many times have we said it, reopen a line and people will use it as I’m sure we’ll see when East West line reopens.

[ray951]

It is great that people are using this service but the tickets are really cheap i.e. an anytime single Newcastle to Ashington (about 13 miles) is £2.60; in comparison a Didcot to Oxford (10 miles) anytime single is £8.70. 20p a mile compared with 87p a mile.

Northern is the English TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) with the highest subsidy so not sure how this is affordable, of course ideally we would like all services to be as highly subsidised.

Lets hope that as the fares rise the service continues to be used.

And I do wonder with EWR^▸ (East West Railway (Oxford to Bedford), or possibly East Worthing station, depending on context) whether 2 car trains are going to be big enough.

[IndustryInsider]

And I do wonder with EWR^▸ (East West Railway (Oxford to Bedford), or possibly East Worthing station, depending on context) whether 2 car trains are going to be big enough.

That's an easy one.  NO they won't be anywhere near long enough!

[RichardB]

It is great that people are using this service but the tickets are really cheap i.e. an anytime single Newcastle to Ashington (about 13 miles) is £2.60; in comparison a Didcot to Oxford (10 miles) anytime single is £8.70. 20p a mile compared with 87p a mile.

Northern is the English TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) with the highest subsidy so not sure how this is affordable, of course ideally we would like all services to be as highly subsidised.

Lets hope that as the fares rise the service continues to be used.

And I do wonder with EWR^▸ (East West Railway (Oxford to Bedford), or possibly East Worthing station, depending on context) whether 2 car trains are going to be big enough.

The fares issue is partly down to the Ashington line only having Single tickets and no returns (Single leg pricing).  The £2.60 is actually Off Peak, the Anytime Single being £3.00 (www.brfares.com) - your point about the fares being cheap still holds but, taking that Didcot - Oxford example, the Off Peak Day Return for that is £8.70, just 10p more than the Off Peak Day Single.

Okehampton was opened in 2021 with fares of £4.00 Single, £8.00 Return (both Anytime, no Off Peak fares) Exeter - Okehampton and that's 30 miles.   Now £4.60 and £9.20 respectively.  In both cases, the railway is being introduced in areas where generations have grown up without it so attractive fares clearly have an important role.  I know the great care that was taken with Okehampton.



     

[Noggin]

It is great that people are using this service but the tickets are really cheap i.e. an anytime single Newcastle to Ashington (about 13 miles) is £2.60; in comparison a Didcot to Oxford (10 miles) anytime single is £8.70. 20p a mile compared with 87p a mile.

Northern is the English TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) with the highest subsidy so not sure how this is affordable, of course ideally we would like all services to be as highly subsidised.

Lets hope that as the fares rise the service continues to be used.

And I do wonder with EWR^▸ (East West Railway (Oxford to Bedford), or possibly East Worthing station, depending on context) whether 2 car trains are going to be big enough.

If you think that's cheap, I'm currently in Spain's Basque country. They seem to have some kind of special economic crisis pricing going on. If I'm not mistaken I just did the 12 miles by train from Hendaye in France to San Sebastian for 49c

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Hopes popular railway line will be expanded to Newbiggin

[Image from here is not available to guests]
More than 700,000 passenger journeys have been made on the Northumberland Line since it reopened

Campaigners have welcomed plans to extend a popular railway line as part of local regeneration plans.

The Northumberland Line reopened last December and there are hopes further destinations can be added including Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

South East Northumberland Rail Users Group (SENRUG) believe it could be achieved by building less than one mile (1.6km) of new track.

The town has not had a rail station since 1964, when it was closed under the Beeching cuts.

Northumberland County Council deputy leader Richard Wearmouth told a meeting that both the authority and the North East Combined Authority were "committed to trying to make it work".

The announcement follows the line's strong performance since reopening. More than 700,000 passenger journeys have been made between Ashington and Newcastle in its first year - double the number originally forecast.

Dennis Fancett, chair of SENRUG, said the extension was the campaign's original vision for the line, which it first proposed two decades ago. "We've always campaigned for the line to go that far - it was part of the plan from the start."

The group said the extension, mostly on existing operational freight track line would be achievable and affordable, with only 0.8 miles of new track needed from just east of the A189 Spine Road overbridge.

SENRUG believes reopening the final stretch would bring major economic benefits, boost tourism, support local businesses and improve access to jobs and education.

It also said a station near Woodhorn Museum could be a park-and-ride hub for nearby villages such as Linton and Ellington, easing congestion.

Newbiggin's original railway station opened in 1872 and shut in 1964 when the nation's rail network was restructured.

Feasibility work on extending the line began earlier this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Two of the lines stations - Bedlington and Northumberland Park - have not yet opened.

The county council said there were no costings at this stage, while feasibility work was ongoing.

[IndustryInsider]

Can't see how this would in fact be feasible.  Several factors against:

* The size of Newbiggin.
* Its reasonably close proximity to the new station at Ashington (3 miles by road).
* The cost of getting consent to build new sections of line - even if less than a mile.
* The cost of construction of new line, and associated track/signalling alterations
* The cost of modifying the new station at Ashington from the new single bay platform to two new platforms on the through lines.
* The cost of providing another train that would be needed to operate the service.

Good to see Blyth Bebside has now opened though.  Just Bedlington and Northumberland Park to go.