It is just one week until ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘ a railtour operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society is due to run along the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop route between Newcastle and Berwick/Edinburgh via Bedlington, this happening on the 8th March 2025.
Haulage over the Newcastle – Edinburgh via Blyth section is due to be a pair of Class 37’s, No. 37403 and 37409 (subject to availability on the day), having swapped with a pair of Class 20’s at Carlisle.
This leg is the final part of a very long rail route due to take in some magnificent scenery; some of which I sampled just today with a trip up to Edinburgh with my family, and earlier in the week with a trip down to York.
Unfortunately, this leg of the Rambler tour will be in darkness between Newcastle, Bedlington, and Edinburgh, due to its late evening departure from Newcastle heading northwards, but the route is still an important one for this campaign.
A quick win for Northumberland Line expansion?
The above railtour demonstrates the potential to use the Newcastle – Bedlington – Berwick route to great effect by expanding the range of services running via the Northumberland Line, and the potential to provide a direct link between SE Northumberland and Scotland.
Bi-mode units could service the route…
The above Class 802 unit, or one of it’s brethren, as part of the Transpennine Express fleet could become a regular sight around the former ‘Blyth and Tyne’ once the Northumberland Line is fully up and running, and if the Northumberland Coast Loop proposal is taken forward.
Class 802 units, like the one photographed above are 125mph capable bi-mode units, running on electric where possible, but also having a diesel ‘off wire’ capability, which means that if these units were cleared to use the ‘Blyth and Tyne’, as well as driver route knowledge being developed would potentially face very few obstacles to supporting of a routine service via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park.
…using existing infrastructure…
The track is already in place, and is used regularly for railfreight (mostly the North Blyth – Fort William ‘Alcan’ service), as well as the occasional railtour such as the Rambler next week, so the route is there and presumably ready to use.
The existing/soon to exist Northumberland Line stations could possibly accomodate these short 5 car units without needing modifications to platforms (this would need to be verified, however). As a worst case scenario, a system such as selective door opening could be applied, which is a familiar and widely used system for long trains calling at short platforms.
…a small bit of additional route knowledge for train drivers…
From a route learning perspective, it could be argued that most, if not all, Newcastle – Edinburgh train drivers should be also trained on this diversionary route, which given the issues at Plessey Viaduct in 2023, could be pertinent should a similar issue occur again, or in the instance of a bridge strike etc.
To gain this route knowledge, and to also retain it, using the route regularly would likely be a key factor, and why not benefit the large population of North Tyneside and the Blyth Valley by picking-up and setting down passengers too?
…adds up to big benefits in resilience and better rail services.
There is popular support for the route, with a past petition gaining 742 signatures and a new one calling for a routine Newcastle – Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park rail route doing well too.
Let’s hope that this new route will be actively considered as one of the next expansions to the Northumberland Line, and allow it to bring even greater prosperity to SE Northumberland.
If you’d like to support me with this campaign, please check out my Ko-fi page!
Thanks, RH.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 