On Tuesday 19th May 2026, Northumberland County Council officially launched the ‘Northumberland Strategic Investment Site (N-SIS)‘, located in and around Cambois, Northumberland.
Quoting directly from the Business Northumberland blog page ‘…The site builds upon recent successes including the £10bn Blackstone QTS Data Centre Campus and JDR Cables £130m new advance[d] manufacturing development at the adjacent Northumberland Energy Park. Neighbouring Northumberland’s AI Growth Zone and the Advanced Manufacturing and Green Industries Investment Zone sites, designated by UK Government, N-SIS creates new large scale investment opportunity, ensuring the county’s reputation as a globally competitive destination for investment, particularly for sectors aligned with clean energy, offshore renewables, and advanced engineering...’
This 77 hectare site of development land is therefore clearly being marketed as a key site not only for Northumberland, but the UK more broadly; and follows many similar investment announcements made recently such as the development of West Hartford Park being given unanimous planning approval.
Taking just these two major developments together, alongside existing sites such as Ashwood Business Park, itself planned for an £86m investment, again announced at UKREiif 2026.
Connectivity – Good, but rail could play a bigger role via the N.C.L. route.
All of these sites boast of ‘great connectivity’ and in many ways they are well connected by all three being close to the A189, and therefore easy access to major routes like the A19 and then the A1, and there is mention of rail connectivity for the Northumberland Line and for railfreight, but could Northumberland County Council use the Northumberland Coast Loop (N.C.L.) route to better effect?
The N.C.L. route could be viewed as a rail route roughly in parallel to the A19/A189; obviously the A19 uses the Tyne Tunnels to pass beneath the River Tyne, where the Northumberland Coast Loop has to run via Central Station, to cross the Tyne upstream, but it cuts across from Benton Junction to pass under the A19 in North Tyneside where it approaches Northumberland Park station.
From there, it runs roughly in parallel to the A19, then the A189, before rejoining the East Coast Main Line (ECML) at Morpeth, much like the A19 joins the A1 at Seaton Burn, with connections both north and south for both modes of transport.
Developing the existing Northumberland Coast Loop rail route for passenger trains (Newcastle – Northumberland Park – Blyth Bebside – Pegswood – Alnmouth – Berwick – Edinburgh), would make connections into South East Northumberland for businesses far faster and more convenient, which would likely drive up the investment opportunities in these multi-million, sometimes multi-billion pound investment zones.
Blyth Bebside station as a strategic hub
The relatively new station at Blyth Bebside is in a VERY strategic location in many regards:
Rail access from all over SE Northumberland is easy via the Northumberland Line: Ashington, Bedlington, Newsham and Seaton Delaval are all within a few minutes of Blyth Bebside, as would be the proposed stations at Woodhorn and Newbiggin by the Sea, or even Cambois and North Blyth should that branch justify a rail service.
I would also contend that if rail services are extended from Morpeth, they should aim to reach Blyth Bebside rather than terminate in Bedlington; it is mere minutes down the line, but would then serve the largest town in Northumberland directly.
Bus routes tend to converge into Cowpen Road heading into Blyth, and fan out from Cowpen Road to other destinations, so it makes an ideal site for a bus/rail interchange with short walking connections.
Ideally, a more direct walking route between the ‘Bebside Interchange’ bus stops near ASDA and Blyth Bebside station via the west side of the ASDA supermarket could be established.
Active travel routes also converge at Blyth Bebside; the National Cycle Network Route 1 running down the coast for example crosses the River Blyth via the A189 Kitty Brewster Bridge then into Blyth near Cowpen Road, but other routes like Furnace Bank connect to Bedlington, and Hathery Lane to Cramlington (comes out near to the former Three Horseshoes Pub), with a little modification, these routes could be tied together and provide a great set of routes to/from Blyth Bebside station for walking and cycling.
Car/Taxi routes from Blyth Bebside are preferable compared to a station like Morpeth, as access onto the A189 makes access fast and easy to/from the station, and contributes far less to road traffic through other towns like Bedlington.
Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh in less than two hours by direct rail services.
At present, even the fastest rail journey from Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh via Newcastle takes over two hours (via Lumo), but a direct rail journey could cut this by as much as 40 minutes down to around 1hr 30 mins (90 minutes) to 1hr 45mins (105 minutes) if a direct service via the Northumberland Coast Loop was to be operated.
Making connections at Morpeth beaten too
Even taking into account driving from Blyth Bebside to Morpeth Station, and catching the train there to Edinburgh, the journey time would still be 1hr 45min (105 mins), and bearing in mind that this journey was entered into Google Maps at 05:30 on Wednesday 20th May, it factors in the lower road traffic volumes in the early morning.
That drive at peak times through Bedlington and into Morpeth, particularly in the morning peak can be painfully slow due to commuters and school traffic, meaning at certain times of day, the short road journey to Morpeth station could be significantly longer.
In contrast, the direct rail route from Blyth Bebside, through Bedlington and Hepscott, then joining the ECML at Morpeth North Junction towards Edinburgh would avoid all the headaches of road traffic through towns like Bedlington and Morpeth, and offer a reliable, fast connection to cities such as Edinburgh.
The other factor in favour of rail is that ‘time on a train is useful time‘; a person on a train can open a laptop and begin work as soon as they have sat down; so a slightly longer direct service has less impact that one needing one or more changes of train or mode of transport, where each change would mean packing bags/laptop away and the loss of working time as a result.
So whilst a passenger may be on the train a short while longer overall, that time can be usefully employed to get some work done, or can be used as time to relax on the way home after a busy day with a cup of tea or coffee, and perhaps something to eat.
No trains between Blyth Bebside and Morpeth station (yet).
As covered in my other blog post recently, there isn’t a rail connection into Morpeth station from the Bedlington direction at present, and it is unlikely to happen in the short term unless major timetable changes occur to allow the Newcastle to Morpeth service to be extended eastwards (ideally to Blyth Bebside or beyond) or new infrastructure such as a reopening of the former bay platform at Morpeth was to occur to allow services from the east to terminate at Morpeth and run back via Bedlington.
In contrast, the direct rail link from Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh via the Morpeth North Curve doesn’t necessarily rely on huge timetable changes (paths might be available in the existing timetable or slight tweaks to enable it), and certainly doesn’t need major infrastructure works such as rebuilding the long-disused Butterwell Line between Ashington and Alnmouth as proposed elsewhere.
Strong support for the Northumberland Coast Loop from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Edinburgh via Northumberland Park and Blyth Bebside
As of this morning, the petition has just reached 1450 signatures, showing growing support for the route to be at least investigated for its potential by organisations like Northumberland County Council.
I did receive a positive reply to an email I sent to Cllr Glen Sanderson in October 2024 with regards the then campaign for Newcastle to Berwick via Blyth Bebside, so hopefully the growing support for the route will be well known, but if you can email Cllr Sanderson, your local Councillors or MP’s about the ‘Northumberland Coast Loop’, it’ll all help!
On Wednesday 3rd June 2026, I will be present at the NEPTUG Northumberland Branch meeting in Morpeth if anyone wishes to come along to discuss the route.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 