Northumberland Line - reopened December 2024, further developments possible

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

All these things are true.

The biggest physical stumbling block might be access to Grace Darling School, which looks to cross the old formation on the level. Solving this could be pricey.

The starting point should probably be a well-integrated bus from Ashington. This would not be a perfect measure of demand - there can be little doubt that more people would use a through train if there was one - but it would provide some evidence, and a useful link to boot. The same test could be applied to Yatton - Clevedon, Kemble - Cirencester[, Lydeway - Devizes] and dozens of similar temptingly short missing links.

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

Will Northumberland Line success help more open?

[Image from here is not available to guests]
The final station to be completed on the Northumberland line will open on 29 March

On 29 March the final station, Bedlington, opens on the Northumberland Line marking the completion of the project to reopen the route from Newcastle to Ashington.

With passenger numbers exceeding predictions, could its success give new impetus to other projects to reopen former railways across northern England?

Dennis Fancett, chair of the rail users group Senrug, which campaigned for the Northumberland line for 20 years, hopes so. He believes the obvious next step is to extend it along the existing freight tracks to a new station at Woodhorn and from there to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

The county council has confirmed it is looking at it as a possibility.

But Senrug's ambitions do not end there. "There is also a case to extend the Newcastle to Morpeth local service, along the existing freight tracks to Bedlington with a new station at Choppington," Fancett says.

Among its other aims, the group would like to see a link between Ashington and Alnmouth and a new station at Seghill.

Ian Walker, Chair of Railfuture North East, an independent organisation which campaigns for better rail services, believes the Northumberland Line strengthens the case for reopening other former railway lines or the creation of new ones. "I think an extension of the metro, what they call the Washington loop, will definitely happen," he says.

Among his other hopes for the future are the Leamside Line which runs from Pelaw in Gateshead to Tursdale in County Durham which he says "would really open up East Durham".

An agreement to do so has been signed by the transport secretary, subject to the assurance that it delivers good value for money.

Then there is the Stillington route, a 10 mile (16km) stretch, currently used as a freight route, from Norton South junction north of Stockton station to Ferryhill South junction on the East Coast Main Line.

He says it could "could really help reduce journey times between Newcastle and Middlesbrough if used for passengers". He also says some of these schemes are "closer than they have ever been" but accepts funding is an issue.

(BBC article continues)