On 1st September 2026, I emailed a number of local politicians and other local campaign groups with regards to the Northumberland Coast Loop; which would be a new rail route connecting Newcastle Upon Tyne to Edinburgh via North Tyneside and South East Northumberland.
This email was circulated as a group to:
Mr A. Ford, NEPTUG,
Cllr B. Erskine, Blyth Town Council,
Mr D. Smith, MP for North Northumberland and his assistant Mr. T. Hunt,
Ms E. Foody, MP for Cramlington and Killingworth,
Cllr H.G.H. Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council,
Mr I. Lavery, MP for Blyth and Ashington,
Mr I. Walker, Railfuture North East Branch,
Mayor K. Clark, North Tyneside Council,
Mayor K. McGuinness, North East Mayor.
The proposed route
This rail route would use the existing and active rail network to create this new route; which is in three key sections:
Section 1: Newcastle Central to Bedlington Junction (The Northumberland Line), which would pass through Manors, Northumberland Park, Seaton Delaval, Newsham, Blyth Bebside, and Bedlington stations. After an absence of 60 years, the reopened passenger line has been a huge success, with trains often packed and overcrowded. One solution to the overcrowding would be to run some Newcastle – Edinburgh services via Blyth which would add more seats quite quickly as well as more direct routes.
In the Victorian era, the then North British Railway, in co-operation with the then Blyth and Tyne Railway was proposing a Newcastle to Edinburgh route via Blyth, then Morpeth, Scots Gap, Reedsmouth, Kielder, and Riccarton Junction, which was a key part in ‘The Wannie Line’ being built in the first place so that the North British Railway had its own route into Newcastle from Scotland. Needless to say this didn’t actually happen in the end, but Blyth to Edinburgh via Berwick is a much more realistic option!
Section 2: Bedlington Junction to Morpeth North Junction (The Hepscott Line), this section is currently a freight only line connecting the Northumberland Line to the East Coast Main Line (ECML). It is used most regularly by the North Blyth to Fort William ‘Alcan’ trains which ply to and from the Port of Blyth to the west coast of Scotland, using the siding at Bedlington to reverse (change direction), but use the direct line from Bedlington to Pegswood to head towards Berwick and Edinburgh.
The ‘Morpeth North Curve’ than connects Hepscott to Pegswood direct was only built in the late 1970’s and opened in c.1980, largely to avoid the need for freight trains to reverse in Morpeth station, particularly coal traffic from places like Widdrington to reach the Port of Blyth and Blyth Power Station, but it has been used for occasional diversions around Morpeth in the past, as well as by railtours in the years since, but to me, would be a sensible route to bring into daily use for passenger trains to create new direct links in Northumberland.
This section is the key to unlocking direct travel from SE Northumberland to North Northumberland and Scotland or vice versa, as unless the SENRUG proposed ‘Butterwell Line’ is built, there is no alternative direct route, and using the existing line via Hepscott should be both faster, and less expensive than developing the Butterwell Line between Ashington and Widdrington, which needs to both rehabilitate a long disused colliery/opencast line, as well as need a new chord to link it northwards onto the ECML near the River Lyne and the village of Ulgham.
In contrast, I personally have travelled over the Northumberland Coast Loop route aboard ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘ railtour on Saturday 8th March 2025, which shows how relatively easily this route could be utilised to create more direct rail links to, from, and within the area. It may require some upgrades, but it is a working railway in regular use, not a derelict line needing revived and needing new heavily engineered sections built onto it.
It wouldn’t require any stations built on it initially, as it would function as a ‘link line’ between stations on the Northumberland Line and the ECML, but, services running via this route could enable the reopening of Choppington station to better serve the west Bedlington and Guide Post/Stakeford areas.
Section 3: Morpeth North Junction to Edinburgh Waverley (The ECML), this route has been in constant passenger use since it opened in the 1840’s, and whilst there may need to be some capacity improvements, it would clearly benefit from additional services, both local ‘all stations’ and semi-fast ‘limited stop’ trains.
Proposed rail services
The primary proposal at present is for a semi-fast service (limited stops) running via this route, which would potentially call at the following stations:
Newcastle Central, Northumberland Park, Blyth Bebside, Pegswood, Alnmouth, Chathill, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Reston, Dunbar, East Linton, Edinburgh Waverley.
This is based essentially on an amended version of the Transpennine Express stopping pattern to run via Blyth and North Tyneside, rather than Morpeth and Cramlington as at present.
Additional semi-fast services are likely to be more easily accomodated into the busy ECML schedule than a slower local service could be, and a semi-fast would also offer a good balance of overall journey times from places like Blyth or Northumberland Park to Edinburgh with stopping at intermediate stations to offer a wider range of connections.
In the longer term, a local ‘all stations’ service from Newcastle to Berwick via Blyth is also desirable, but a priority will be for the long awaited ECML local service (Newcastle to Berwick via Morpeth and Cramlington) which needs 25kV electric trains, a local train via Blyth may therefore need to await electrification of the line via Blyth.
Replies recieved
To date, I have recieved three replies from the offices of:
Mayor Kim McGuinness,
David Smith MP for North Northumberland,
Ian Lavery MP for Blyth and Ashington.
I am very grateful for their replies, but at present the route is not committed to, which is hopefully something that’ll change soon with the growing support for the route.
As can be seen above, the campaign has ever growing momentum, with 1532 signatures to date on our petition.
If you haven’t already, please sign up via the link here: https://c.org/LPBD8vhjMb and share with friends and family too!
The Northumberland Coast Loop 