As of this morning, the Northumberland Coast Loop Petition, stands at a brilliant 425 signatures this morning.
This petition aims to see the introduction of a new rail route between Newcastle and Berwick/Edinburgh via Bedlington, directly linking the newly opened Northumberland Line stations to North Northumberland and Scotland, rather than the current situation of transferring between trains at Newcastle Central Station.
Using the Existing Route Regularly
On 8th March 2025, I was fortunate to be a passenger aboard the SRPS Railtours ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘, which took the proposed route between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Bedlington as part of a ‘rare-track’ railtour around Scotland and Northern England, showing how readily this route could be brought into regular passenger use.
Compared to routes such as the Leamside Line, which will require track to be relaid before any trains can run, the link line between Bedlington Junction and Morpeth North Junction is used multiple times per week by the GBRf operated ‘Alcan’ train between the dock at North Blyth and the aluminium smelter in Fort William.
The route has a history of being used for diversions around Morpeth when required, but the huge popularity of the Northumberland Line shows that a new rail service headed north could be a great addition to these brand new stations, and could help deliver further economic benefit to Northumberland as a whole.
If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do so here: https://chng.it/J8DxHqpWdf
The Northumberland Coast Loop 