This blog post sets out a few thoughts on improving the connectivity of Alnwick and Amble, both popular tourist towns to their nearest major rail station at Alnmouth on the East Coast Main Line (ECML).
Alnwick to Alnmouth Station
After sharing a recent blog post on the Alnwick Matters Facebook Group (image below), a number of comments were made about the poor state of public transport connectivity by bus from Alnwick to Alnmouth.
The above comments show the dissatisfaction with the existing services by Arriva; while the service outlined below seems fairly reasonable, the reliability of Arriva buses is well known to be poor, with buses often late or failing to arrive at all on numerous occasions.
The current services are outlined below, with both running into and through Alnwick and Amble respectively already.
X20 between Alnwick and Ashington
The X20 service provides a near ‘doorstep’ connection to the station, taking a route via South View and Curly Lane in Hipsburn to serve the closest bus stops to Alnmouth station.
The service is presently approximately hourly, the with gaps between services slowly increasing during the course of the day.
While this isn’t necessarily a bad service, if late running or failing to run altogether, this would present a significant issue for those trying to use the service.
Improving the reliability and timekeeping of of the X20 service would be an immediate benefit that could hopefully be very quickly delivered.
X18
The X18 service runs through Hipsburn, but doesn’t run via South View & Curly Lane, the nearest stop being that near Hipsburn Roundabout, around 8-10mins from the station itself.
While it may require some timetable alterations, routing the X18 to Alnmouth station would seem the obvious course of action to improve connectivity between bus and rail services.
The lack of a waiting shelter on the Amble bound side of the A1068 would also be alleviated by running via Curly Lane, as both stops have shelters at that location, but the simple installation of one at the Hipsburn Roundabout stop should potentially be given priority too.
X18 and X20 together offers a half hourly service
If both services ran to similar timings, and both ran via Curly Lane (X18 would require rerouting), then this could offer a near half-hourly service to/from Alnwick and Amble, but unless reliability improves, then this is still unlikely to be an attractive option for many.
Dedicated Alnwick – Alnmouth Station – Amble Circular Bus
Given the popularity of both towns for tourism, with Alnwick home to Alnwick Castle, the Alnwick Garden, Lilidorei, Barter Books and more, and Amble an increasingly popular seaside town, there could well be justification for a dedicated year round bus service to link both towns to Alnmouth Station.
This could mirror the 434 ‘Northumberland Line Connector’ that was launched in February 2024 and running hourly from 7am to 7pm.
A similarly sized bus, with appropriate branding (Castles and Coast Connector perhaps?) could be similarly provided as a dedicated link between Alnwick, Alnmouth and Amble, which would also take in sites like Warkworth Castle en-route.
Timings for such a bus may need extended, perhaps until 9pm or perhaps even 10pm for evening events in Alnwick, or people returning home on late trains from Alnmouth.
The current bus timetables suggest that Alnwick Bus Station to Amble High Street would take between 27 and 30 minutes, meaning a single bus could possibly achieve a full circuit in one hour.
At a minimum, an hourly service should be provided by such a dedicated bus, and at peak times, ideally a half hourly one in addition to the X18/X20 buses, with tickets usable across all three services.
Alnwick Town Centre: Bus Priority Improvements?
Improvements to traffic management in Alnwick (particularly around Bondgate Without) could decrease congestion for buses heading towards Alnwick Bus Station (by observation and experience as a local resident) traffic often tends to queue along Bondgate Without, which is the major bus route, and buses trying to exit Hotspur Street to head towards the War Memorial also get held up in traffic.
One solution could be to make Bondgate Tower and the junctions with Hotspur Street and Greenwell Road fully light controlled, which could also improve pedestrian safety in this area of Alnwick due to busy road junctions.
A second option would be to rever the traffic priority at Bondgate Tower to heading inwards (as it has previously been, as photo below shows)
A third option would be to make Bondgate Tower one directional, and probably inward only (from Alnwick Playhouse side into the Town Centre), which could also potentially help to avoid the structure being impacted by oversize vehicles (easily able to turn left or right to avoid the low arch).
The third option is possibly the most preferable, as it reduces the conflict of traffic alternating direction through Bondgate Tower, allowing a steady flow through, meaning that traffic would not build up on Bondgate Without to the same extent, and it would also allow any traffic exiting Hotspur Street and Greenwell Road to have a much clearer view of any oncoming vehicles. It could also effectively calm the traffic in the Town Centre and make crossing the road easier and safer.
The above works are not strictly necessary to improve the bus services, but as a hotspot of congestion within Alnwick on a primary bus route, improvements would benefit all buses, and would also be of pedestrian benefit.
The Alnwick Branch/Aln Valley Railway
Unfortunately, the decision was made in 1968 to close the Alnwick Branch between Alnwick Station and Alnmouth. Some controversy surrounds this being reputedly linked to the building of the A1 Alnwick Bypass around that time, the closure of the line meaning that building costs of a rail bridge over the A1 could be avoided. An excellent short video of the Alnwick Branch in action can be seen here.
The Aln Valley Railway has a long stated intention of reconnecting Alnwick to Alnmouth from their new station at Lionheart (to the east of the A1 Alnwick Bypass), through to Alnmouth Station.
This rail link, once complete would be a great asset to connectivity between Alnwick and Alnmouth, especially as the A1068 can often be treacherous in adverse weather conditions due to steep hills, sharp, and often blind bends, and is frequently the site of road accidents, the railway would be a much better ‘all weather’ route.
Hopefully the AVR will not be too long from achieving this aim.
There could be an advantage in the Aln Valley Railway extending south of Alnmouth on an alignment parallel to the ECML before passing over/under the ECML to head towards a new terminus near to Birling; giving the AVR a fantastic sea view (as the ECML trains experience), and putting Amble within a fairly reasonable walking/cycling distance of a rail station? This admittedly would be a significant new branchline to build, but would be more advantageous than rebuilding a station such as Warkworth on the ECML, or to rebuild the old Amble Branch which has been largely lost.
Use of battery electric trams could allow the route at each end to be extended into the town centres of Alnwick and Amble, the latter probably having to avoid the Warkworth Castle route of the A1068 and instead cross the River Coquet between Warkworth and Amble, and curving around Birling to join the extended AVR.
Alnmouth Station to Amble
The route between Alnmouth Station and Amble is comparatively straighforward, though straightening and generally improving the A1068 from its wiggling course between Hipsburn and Birling (before entering Warkworth) would be an advantage, as would removing on-street parking on Castle Street in Warkworth, which makes the road extremely narrow for vehicles such as buses and HGV’s to negotiate. The junction of Woodlands and Beal Bank at Warkworth could also be improved, with the through route potentially following the A1068, and making the approach from Morwick Road a give way, or a small roundabout be installed at the top of Beal Bank?
Conclusion
There is perhaps no reason why a dedicated Alnwick to Amble via Alnmouth shuttle bus service couldn’t be established during 2025; it is a fairly low cost and easily implemented change with low infrastructure requirements. Other buses such as the 472 Alnwick to Shilbottle bus could be extended on to Alnmouth Station too, although the 13′ 0″ height restriction on the High Buston road may restrict the types of buses able to service such a route?
The Northumberland Coast Loop 