Please see below a journey times comparison for a local (all stations service), between the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop (N.C.L.) and the ‘Chathill Flyer’.
Times between trains are derived from the following timetables shown on Real Time Trains (RTT) as a publically accessible and free resource to fact check.
Newcastle to Chathill via Cramlington and Morpeth from the Friday evening timetable on RTT showing the Chathill service on 21.6.24.
Newcastle to Bedlington from previous example timetable of the Northumberland Line sourced from RTT on 3.6.24. (Shown below)
Freight timing between Bedlington (BEJ) and Pegswood (PEG) based on following timetable for North Blyth – Fort William ‘Alcan’ service minus dwell time at Coopies Lane for crew change (see below), timed at 12min assuming non-stop run.
From the above data, plus an approximation of Chathill to Berwick Upon Tweed of 14mins, the following table was derived:
Between Newcastle and Bedlington, the journey times would be identical or very close to ‘Northumberland Line’ journey times, with the trip between Bedlington and Pegswood on the Hepscott Line being estimated at a mere 12mins (assuming no stop at Morpeth North Junction), and from there identical timings along the ECML northwards to Berwick as any other local service.
This results in the N.C.L. route being slightly longer in overall journey times (longer and slower route due to more stops) but only by 17mins, at just 43 minutes.
This still compares very favourably to other public transport, where aside from the Chathill Flyer, all other options to central station would take over an hour (as shown below), and even travelling by car to Central Station would take approx 30mins.
In conclusion, the Northumberland Coast Loop could be a valuable link between the densely populated SE Northumberland area and North Northumberland, with a few key journey times to pick out:
Blyth Bebside to Alnmouth (for Alnwick): 35mins.
Blyth Bebside to Berwick-Upon-Tweed: 61mins (1hr 1min).
Northumberland Park to Alnmouth (for Alnwick): 55mins
Northumberland Park to Berwick Upon Tweed: 81mins (1hr 21mins)
If you support the Northumberland Coast Loop, please sign the petition here: https://chng.it/f6MGxdzXfJ
The Northumberland Coast Loop 