The Chathill Rail Action Group (CRAG) is again campaigning for increased services to Chathill Station which is on the ECML between Berwick Upon Tweed, and Alnmouth (for Alnwick) stations.
The recent Northumberland Gazette article Campaign gathers pace in bid to get more trains to call at Chathill Station discusses the campaign to date, with hopes of connections of 40 minutes to Newcastle and 55 minutes to Edinburgh. This is also with broad backing; with Northumberland County Council, Transpennine Express, Berwick-Upon-Tweed MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan and local Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson all supporting the campaign.
As a station on the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop (N.C.L.), this uplift in service at Chathill would also be welcomed by this campaign too, which while services presumably running 100% on the East Coast Main Line, the longer term intention of the N.C.L. campaign would be to provide even more regional connectivity by linking stations such as Chathill directly to SE Northumberland towns such as Blyth, and into North Tyneside by using the existing link line between Pegswood and Bedlington, then on to Newcastle – slightly more indirect but serving a lot of people along the way.
In the case of Chathill particularly, it would offer a nearby rail connection to the Port of Tyne Cruise Terminal and international Ferry terminals for those visiting attractions such as Bamburgh Castle, the Farne Islands and more, as well as connecting the large towns of SE Northumberland directly for the popular ‘day out’ leisure travel, and for seasonal workers to access tourism related jobs.
Let’s hope that Chathill can achieve its long-awaited service improvement!
The Northumberland Coast Loop 