A recent Facebook post from John Lamont MP, who represents Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk just over the border in Scotland gave an update on a recent meeting held at Berwick Upon Tweed railway station.
While Berwick station is within Northumberland, and therefore in the Consituency of David Smith MP, who represents North Northumberland, it is great to see the cross-party collaboration between both elected representatives to work for the people on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, who pass between both countries regularly.
Like many other campaigners and organised groups, the land between Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle Central is not just there to rattle through non-stop and admire the splendid views from the line; it should also be there to serve the local communities who live along it’s length, or nearby to it (including myself as an Alnwick resident), but also to serve the growing market for tourism in the areas served by the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
As John succinctly puts it, we need to push for investment in the infrastructure to deliver BOTH a fast InterCity service between Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, and London, alongside a strong set of local services calling at the intermediate stations like Berwick, but also Chathill, Belford, and hopefully, a route via Blyth, Northumberland to further link Northumberland together as one county.
Lets hope that LNER, and the other train operators, alongside Network Rail can help deliver BOTH a fast service between the cities, alongside the slower ones to serve smaller, but still vitally important places in-between.
If you’d like to join the 958 people who are supporting an Edinburgh – Blyth Bebside – Northumberland Park – Newcastle rail route becoming established, please do so here: https://chng.it/zThXj8HBpY
Thanks, RH.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 