Richard Bowker, one of the podcast hosts was joined by John Smith, CEO of GBRf on part of the route in Scotland, discussing a broad picture of this particular service, as well as the broader picture of railfreight in Scotland and wider UK, well worth a watch (as ever of this interesting and informative podcast).
For the Northumberland Coast Loop proposal, this freight run is of particular interest as it uses the vast majority of the route, by ‘starting’ at Bedlington Sidings (where it has run around after coming from North Blyth), passing along the Hepscott Line, then heading towards Fort William by taking the Morpeth North Curve and joining the East Coast Main Line (ECML) near Pegswood on it’s way north.
For passenger services, the intention of the Northumberland Coast Loop would be for these services to begin at Newcastle Central, take the soon to open Northumberland Line as far as Bedlington, and then following this currently freight only route along the Hepscott Line, join the ECML near Pegswood and run north.
Potential Passenger Services and Chathill News
N.C L. local service: Calling at all stations en-route between Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Newcastle-Upon Tyne via Bedlington, providing stronger ‘within Northumberland’ connectivity, and building upon recent bus improvements announced to places like Chathill and the proposal to also reopen Belford Station to drive modal shift of people away from cars and onto rail to access North Northumberland, which is a popular day-out destination from South East Northumberland and North Tyneside, which the N.C.L. route could help serve.
N.C.L. Semi-fast service: A longer distance service (i.e. Edinburgh – Newcastle or points beyond) could also run via this route, but calling at only two stations, which would be Northumberland Park in North Tyneside, and Blyth Bebside in Northumberland.
This service could serve a much wider market of travel to, from, and within Northumberland by making rapid, direct links possible to many areas of the UK.
Taking Blyth Bebside station as an example, it is very well located to serve not only the town of Blyth (largest in Northumberland), but is arguably also well located to also serve Cramlington, Bedlington, and also Ashington by onward connections by both bus and rail to these towns, as well as a location just off the A189 Spine Road.
Compared to using Morpeth Railway station, which isn’t always easy to reach via public transport, is too distant for reasonable active travel access and constrained for car parking; Blyth Bebside is closer to reach by walking/cycling, is situated very close to the Cowpen Road route into Blyth which is already a major bus route, and the A189 plus large car park make it more suited to those that need to travel by car to reach the station.
A wider range of rail services could be a massive economic boost to Blyth, which would be a good fit with the £90m ‘Energising Blyth’ programme, which seeks to ‘Create 7,500 jobs, 5,000 learning opportunities, and attract over 100,000 extra visitors to Blyth each year.‘, and ‘Improve walking and cycling routes and connections to public transport networks, making it easier to travel to and from Blyth.’
Both of the above aims would be supported by the Northumberland Coast Loop route for both local and long distance services, which could help Blyth (and surrounding areas achieve becoming a ‘…thriving UK and international centre of renewable energy and advanced manufacturing growth and innovation, providing new jobs, better skills, more homes, and a clean environment for people in the town and the wider North East region.‘.
Petition News
The N.C.L petition continues to perform well too, with 662 signatures to date, and if you haven’t signed already, please do so!
The Northumberland Coast Loop 
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