A quick update for Christmas Eve 2025, and a final wish of a Merry Christmas to all!
Bedlington, and Northumberland Park progressing towards completion!
In this article from the Chronicle ‘Work on new Northumberland Line station making ‘great progress’ ahead of opening next year‘, it has been announced by contractors Morgan Sindall that Bedlington railway station, alongside that at Northumberland Park are making great progress towards completion in early 2026 (no official opening date yet given).
Phased opening but huge success to date
Despite the phased opening of the stations; with Ashington, and Seaton Delaval being open on 15th December 2024, joined by Newsham on the 17th March 2025, and Blyth Bebside on 19th October 2025, the Northumberland Line has been a huge success, with the line rapidly approaching a million passengers, having carried at least 920,000 people by the first anniversary of opening on 15th December 2025.
Expansion to Newbiggin by the Sea; warmly welcomed but as yet, no mention of the Northumberland Coast Loop to expand the Northumberland Line.
Another interesting snippet in the above Chronicle article is the mention of extension to Newbiggin, with Cllr Sanderson quoted as saying “The next big step is to get some more carriages and I have written to the secretary of state asking for that. Secondly, we want to move the line further north to Newbiggin. That is something I have been talking to the mayor about and she is very supportive of the idea. Hopefully, we will see an even bigger Northumberland Line in the not too distant future.”
Whilst the extension to Newbiggin is warmly welcomed, the need for extra carriages could be met by the suggested Northumberland Coast Loop route being adopted, as it would put additional trains over the Northumberland Line between Bedlington and Newcastle Upon Tyne, providing much needed additional seats to/from Newcastle to towns such as Blyth, as well as providing a direct route northwards into North Northumberland and Scotland from North Tyneside and SE Northumberland, saving a significant amount of journey time compared to travelling via Newcastle Central to make connections.
With the line already in existence and regularly used for railfreight; unlike the long-lifted line to Newbiggin, could we see trains on the Northumberland Coast Loop as early as 2026?
With the route completely in existence, and used regularly for freight between the Port of Blyth and Scotland (mostly the North Blyth to Fort William Alumina trains running multiple times per week), this route should be one capable of being brought into use swiftly, and would work to ease the crowding seen on the Northumberland Line by adding extra trains, as well as significantly cut journey times by using the existing direct rail route from Bedlington to Pegswood.
Monday 22nd December 2025 – Alnmouth to Ashington via Newcastle
Take for example my trip from Alnmouth (for Alnwick) to Ashington on Monday 22nd December, which took 1hr 34mins, starting at 06:26, arriving at Ashington at 08:00.
With a direct link from Alnmouth to Blyth Bebside, this journey time could be cut to comfortably under an hour, using the existing line connecting Pegswood to Bedlington station and the northern end of the Northumberland Line, as will be explored below.
Had a direct semi-fast train existed from Alnmouth to Blyth Bebside, the trip between those two stations would be approximately just 29 minutes by an estimate from existing timetables, and using the Seven Counties Rambler timings for Pegswood to Bedlington (11 mins from Alnmouth to Pegswood, 2 mins dwell at Pegswood, then c.13 mins from Pegswood to Bedlington, and finally 3 mins from Bedlington to Blyth Bebside).
As can be seen above, 1Y07 passed Pegswood at 06:39 on Monday 22nd December, yet I was not to reach Blyth Bebside until 07:51 on 2T09, a full 72 minutes later, despite the two stations only being 13 minutes apart by the direct rail route, a potential saving of 59 minutes of travel and connecting time at Newcastle Central in this case.
From Blyth Bebside, the travel time to Ashington is a modest 9 minutes, as taken from the timetable of the train I was aboard on Monday 22nd December.
Therefore it can be concluded that a trip from Alnmouth (for Alnwick) to Ashington via Blyth Bebside would be in the ballpark of a 1 hour trip; 29 mins from Alnmouth to Blyth Bebside on a direct rail service (allowing for an intermediate stop at Pegswood, and generous timing from Pegswood to Blyth Bebside), and 9 mins from Blyth Bebside to Ashington accounting for 38 minutes of rail travel, and a generous 22 minute connection time at Blyth Bebside to change trains.
There is scope that if the line from Morpeth North Junction (where the route to Bedlington diverges/converges from the East Coast Main Line (ECML) in a southbound or northbound direction respectively) to Bedlington was to have similar line speed upgrades to the rest of the old ‘Blyth and Tyne’ lines, now part of the Northumberland Line, the 13 minute journey time could be further reduced with trains able to run faster along that stretch of line.
As stated above, a direct rail service from Alnmouth to Blyth Bebside could have saved 59 minutes of travel and waiting time between trains at Newcastle, compared to my actual trip on Monday 22nd December 2025.
This is why I feel so strongly that the Northumberland Coast Loop, with trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park should be strongly considered an a next step for the Northumberland Line, alongside the Newbiggin extension, if implemented, it could:
- Significantly reduce journey times from SE Northumberland and North Tyneside into North Northumberland and Scotland, by using the direct rail link that already exists from Bedlington to the ECML at Morpeth North Junction near Pegswood Viaduct.
- Add extra trains onto the Northumberland Line, easing the significant overcrowding seen on this very popular line, meaning it can transport more people by clean, green, and much safer rail travel.
- Add to the positive economic impact of reopened stations in SE Northumberland by providing direct links to North Northumberland and Scotland, and putting large towns such as Blyth onto the InterCity rail network between Edinburgh and Newcastle, making the area even more attractive for investment, and giving local residents even better access to the rest of the UK.
In the next few days, I will be again writing to Cllr Sanderson at Northumberland County Council, as I did in October 2024, to again raise the Northumberland Coast Loop as an option for expansion of the Northumberland Line in 2026.
If you can, please add your name as soon as possible to the petition if you have not already done so: https://www.change.org/p/start-a-newcastle-edinburgh-rail-service-via-blyth-bebside-and-northumberland-park/exp/cl_/cl_sharecopy_490421148_en-GB/9/679068674?recruiter=679068674&recruited_by_id=f8c66ca0-ee1b-11e6-b726-5dfd818fd527&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490421148_en-GB%3A9
Thank you all for your amazing support so far, and if you can, please also email or speak your local elected respresentatives (Parish and Town Councillors, County Councillors, your local MP, Mayor Kim McGuinness etc) to give this proposed route as much support as you can.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, RH.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 