Today, the 1st of March 2026, is just a week ahead of the first anniversary of ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ operated by the SRPS (the Scottish Railway Preservation Society) which ran on the 8th March 2025.
Circular Tour: Linlithgow to Linlithgow via Carlisle, Preston, Newcastle, Bedlington, and Edinburgh
A huge circular route around Scotland and Northern England, ‘The Rambler’ began and ended at Linlithgow, heading to Edinburgh, before turning around via some less used lines in Edinburgh, towards Glasgow, then south to Carlisle, and down to Preston via the beautiful Settle and Carlisle Line, before going back to Carlisle up the West Coast Mainline, then along the Tyne Valley Line to Newcastle.
The final leg; Newcastle, Bedlington, and Edinburgh back to Linlithgow
The final leg back to Linlithgow was the interesting part for me, and its relationship to this campaign; as from Newcastle Central, it took then then very recently reopened Northumberland Line to Bedlington, which at the time had only Seaton Delaval station open between Newcastle and Bedlington (Ashington is not on the route, it sitting on the former Newbiggin Branch, itself morphed today into a branchline to Lynemouth Power Station), then using the still freight only line headed west from Bedlington towards the village of Hepscott, just outside of Morpeth.
At Hepscott, at the junction that quite logically is called ‘Hepscott Junction’, allows a further choice; the left hand route from Bedlington heads towards Morpeth station, and if taken would have routed the train back toward Newcastle Central, but instead the train took the right hand route, which curves north towards Pegswood Viaduct over the River Wansbeck towards the village of Pegswood and then north along the East Coast Main Line (ECML) back to Edinburgh, and then the conclusion of this epic day trip back in Linlithgow where it had started in the wee hours on the morning!
The Northumberland Line a year on; and the need for the Northumberland Coast Loop is clear.
Almost a year on, the vast majority of the then incomplete stations that the railtour passed through are now open, only Bedlington is still awaited, but is due to open at the end of this month on Sunday the 29th March 2026.
The line has, despite delays in opening the route initially with only Ashington, and Seaton Delaval stations in December 2024, the other stations at Newsham, Blyth Bebside opening during 2025, and now Northumberland Park and Bedlington opening and the latter due to open in 2026.
Despite the delays, the line has been a HUGE success in terms of passenger numbers, with well over a million passengers now having used the line, and potential to reach two million by the end of 2026, with the line compete in just a few weeks once Bedlington is finally opened to the public.
While many people such as myself were very optimistic for the success of the line ahead of it being opened; I wouldn’t have even dreamt of the volume of passengers (over a million to date) using the line so early after opening, and especially when the scheme has been beset by delays and more delays.
No extra Northern trains until new units arrive in the 2030’s.
The busy line presenting itself as an issue for Northern, the Government run train operator (was taken back in-house from Arriva and has been run directly by the Department for Transport Operator since 1st March 2020, so six years today) which is the exclusive operator of passenger trains at present but has a shortage of Class 156 and Class 158 trains that are used on the line, meaning services are just two carriages rather than four, leading to trains being very crowded and complaints arising from people not being able to find a seat.
Northern is in the process of beginning procurement of new trains (which hopefully might be a minimum of four carriages in length as standard, avoiding having any two car trains at all), but there will be some years between ordering new trains and them being built, delivered, and entering service.
Diverting existing trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Bedlington
The solution this campaign is putting forward is to instead pull some of the wider range of rolling stock available that currently plies between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Cramlington and Morpeth to instead run a handful of services via the ‘loop’ between Pegswood and Manors via Bedlington.
This would mean that extra trains could serve the ‘core’ part of the Northumberland Line from Blyth, the largest town in Northumberland into Newcastle, bringing extra seats onto the line and easing the overcrowding of the existing services.
Some other branded trains, like TransPennine Express (TPE) are, like Northern, run by the DfT Operator (DfTO), effectively one ‘company’ with separate branding, much like British Rail had trains in different branding for different services being operated. LNER is another train operator that is directly run by the DfTO, it is just a coat of paint and different colour scheme within the train and on staff uniforms, but the same back office staff all three of these train services north of Newcastle, and as time goes on, more train operators are being brought into the DfTO.
This means that if decided by the DfTO, there shouldn’t be any great barrier to running some TPE, or LNER trains via Bedlington rather than Morpeth or Cramlington, if desired.
The lack of overhead wires isn’t a major issue, as many of those running on the ECML are bi-modes, able to run on both electric overhead power at 25kV AC, or use their fitted diesel engines when ‘off the wires’, as can be seen below from diverted LNER trains going along the Tyne Valley Line (Newcastle to Carlisle via Hexham) below.
In the longer term, this route is one that would benefit from electrification at 25kV AC so that 100% electric trains could be used on this route too, but for now bi-modes are practical proposition for a very quick way to get more trains running and boost the capacity of the Northumberland Line into Newcastle.
This route also offers a direct route northwards from towns like Blyth into North Northumberland and Scotland, using an existing line, which would cut journey times and the need to change trains by going via Newcastle, and could further boost the positive economic impact of the Northumberland Line for very little if any additional investment.
The line from Bedlington to Morpeth North Junction, where the freight only line joins the East Coast Main Line (ECML) has existed since 1980 (the opening of Morpeth North Curve, most of the route existed for over a century before that linking Morpeth station to Bedlington), yet today it only sees a handful of trains each week at most.
Using this arguably underused link to boost the capacity of the Northumberland Line, as well as bring new direct routes into play would be a massive economic opportunity for very little extra expenditure; the track and junctions are all there and used regularly if infrequently and the stations are complete and open, with Bedlington due to open in a matter of a few weeks.
Petition and put a call to Parliament
If you support this route being opened up, please sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/start-a-newcastle-edinburgh-rail-service-via-blyth-bebside-and-northumberland-park, which has already received 1,116 signatures to date, and if you live locally in the consituencies along the route, represented in Northumberland by:
David Smith MP (Berwick Upon Tweed, Chathill, Alnmouth, Acklington, Widdrington, and Pegswood stations)
Ian Lavery MP (Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, and Newsham stations)
Emma Foody MP (Seaton Delaval, and Northumberland Park stations)
Please write by post or by email to them, and ask for their support for the ‘Northumberland Coast Loop’, and explain why you feel it would be useful to you, the more support the proposal gets, the more likely it’ll be made a reality.
Please also reach out to your local Northumberland County Councillors to also raise this route with the council for its support.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 