An update on the Northumberland County Council (NCC) website yesterday afternoon announced that £255,000 has been made available for repairs to Eden Hill Bridge, which spans the trackbed of the Alnwick Branch about halfway between Lionheart Station and Alnmouth station (the route now home to the Aln Valley Railway (AVR) and a parallel greenway), with the works enabling both to be extended beyond the current end of the line at Greenrigg Halt towards Alnmouth station.
The funding is split between NCC, who are contributing £125,000, and £130,000 from Historic Railways to carry out waterproofing and essential repairs. The bridge now belonging to NCC, it allows the council, once work is complete, to grant permission for the Aln Valley Railway to be extended east towards Alnmouth, one of the key stations on the Northumberland part of the East Coast Main Line (ECML).
The AVR has done an amazing job since first breaking ground on the Lionheart site as recently as February 2012, with the Aln Valley Railway Society formed in 1995, a lot achieved in the last 30 years!
Well done to all involved, and it’ll be great to see the AVR extended back towards the mainline, and hopefully, it’ll soon be possible to interchange between mainline services and heritage/modern shuttle service at Alnmouth to reach Alnwick (Lionheart) and the wider town of Alnwick by rail once again, after closure of the branch in October 1968.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 