Northumberland Line nearing a million journeys
A recent post from Northern, the DfT operator who runs trains on the Northumberland Line, has announced a competition (https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/offers/competitions) for those using the Northumberland Line to enter, presumably ahead of the millionth passenger travelling on the route.
This is a fantastic success for the line, with the predictions in some quarters of ridership likely to be disappointing (‘no one will use it’ or similar statements) thorough proven wrong by the immense popularity of the line thus far, a great combination of affordable fares and a great timetable, offering fast and frequent connections into Newcastle Central.
Call for more carriages echoed.
In this article from North East Bylines, ‘More good news on the Northumberland Line‘, the call by Northumberland County Council for more four carriage trains to work over the Northumberland Line on a permanent basis has been echoed by Rail Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, where he has asked Northern (an ‘operator’ that is part of the DfT operated railway, which also includes ‘operators’ such as LNER and Transpennine Express) to see what is possible to get extra carriages operating on the route.
Green Signals podcast debates extra carriages call
This is likely to prove highly challenging, and was recently discussed in Episode 118 of the Green Signals Podcast with former RAIL Editor Nigel Harris, and former SRA Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Bowker, both with considerable experience reporting on, and being within the rail industry respectively.
You can view this episide of Green Signals below, with the section pertaining to the Northumberland Line starting just after 52mins in, but the whole episode is worth watching, and for me, has become weekly watching alongside the longer running Railnatter series by Gareth Dennis.
There is indeed a valid point raised that Northern cannot take the blame for insufficient rolling stock for the level of demand, when passenger numbers are way in excess of predicted volumes, and they are doing the best that they can with strengthening services where they can.
Northumberland Coast Loop solution?
Our solution, that has long been put forward, is to use a wider range of diesel or bi-mode ECML rolling stock that currently operates daily between Newcastle and Berwick/Edinburgh via Cramlington and Morpeth to instead run some services via Bedlington, Blyth and Northumberland Park.
There could even be some potential to use charter stock such as loco-hauled carriages for such as route if other stock is unavailable?
The proposed route is a long-standing diversionary line avoiding Morpeth and Cramlington, but now with the reopening and huge success of the Northumberland Line, could become a secondary mainline between The Toon (Newcastle Upon Tyne) and Auld Reekie (Edinburgh)
Auld Reekie has four lines connecting it to Glesga (Glasgow) across the Scottish Central Belt, which is arguably a huge part of the economic success of that area, comprising of The Falkirk Line, North Clyde Line, the Shotts Line, and the Carstairs Line.
A choice of two routes between Newcastle and Edinburgh along the Northumberland Coast (one via Cramlington, and the other via Blyth) could offer multiple benefits; it gives the obvious benefit of direct northward links from towns such as Blyth, as well as additonal train capacity to/from Newcastle if extra trains are operated alongside the existing Northumberland Line services, but also gives the network greater resilience in the event of disruption.
A good example of this was during October 2023 when Plessey Viaduct suffered a partial parapet wall collapse, closing one line completely to trains, and the other working at a much reduced speed. Had this event been a more significant structural problem, it may have resulted in the total severing of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Newcastle and Edinburgh, and may have seen the ‘Blyth and Tyne’ route via Blyth (the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop) come into use once again.
Using the route regularly has advantages in that drivers become more experienced at this alternative route (much like occasionally driving different routes between home and work to keep you familiar with it), as unlike driving a car, a train driver needs to gain ‘route knowledge’ by being accompanied by another driver for a period of time to learn it, and then regularly drive it to maintain that knowledge.
This route knowledge is vital to operate a train safely; knowing the speed limits on different sections of track, where crossings are, where signals and junctions are etc, meaning that a train can safely run on a route. Drivers need to know how much braking distance is needed for example to safely stop before a signal protecting a junction, so that they don’t pass a red signal (at danger in railway parlance) and damage equipment, or worse, be involved in a collision.
Our petition for the Northumberland Coast Loop route has now reached 1050 signatures, showing strong support for this proposed route, but as yet has not had official support to be investigated.
This route could assist the capacity of the Northumberland Line ahead of opening to Newbiggin by the Sea by giving additional capacity on the ‘core’ section of the Northumberland Line between Bedlington and Newcastle, meaning that the local trains that could be already fairly full by time they reach Blyth would be augmented by longer distance services running over the route, offering more seats to/from Newcastle, but also potentially easing the number of people who might be making a connection via Newcastle to head northwards by rail.
Connections to or from the north via Newcastle is potentially a significant number of journeys given the relatively low cost of travelling into Newcastle by rail compared to driving and parking, or being driven in a taxi to a station such as Morpeth, and it would be interesting to see the ticketing data to see what percentage of the near million trips made on the Northumberland Line is composed of this market, for myself, I have made a number of trips to/from Northumberland Line stations from my own local station at Alnmouth, a sample of which are shown below.
From anecdotal evidence such as speaking to friends and colleagues at work, I’m far from the only person making such trips, with one couple from Blyth for example travelling to Edinburgh via Newcastle for a short break by rail.
Again, there should be ample data, given nearly a million journeys to/from Northumberland Line stations to determine the scale of this market, but one that could grow given a single seat route, as direct trains are generally preferred over changes of trains by many passengers, as can be seen from article below with references to services calling at Cramlington.
Whilst the Northumberland Coast Loop doesn’t directly call at Cramlington station itself, it could still be of benefit to the wider town of Cramlington, as Blyth Bebside would be in each reach of the town, and offer direct connections to the north from there, or via Northumberland Park, again in easy reach from Cramlington.
As can be seen below, this is a route that can be implemented very quickly with the political will to do so, with my own trip almost a year ago on board ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ attesting to this, where the final leg of this long-distance circular tour going from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington on 8th March 2025.
Please support the campaign by sharing and signing the petition, and by sending it to friends and family too!
The Northumberland Coast Loop 