On Tuesday coming (17th November 2026), I’ll be attending the meeting below with Mayor Kim McGuinness hosted by Alnwick Civic Society, which is now sold out.
North East Rail Vision
One of the aims of attending this meeting, alongside fellow rail campaigners is to raise the Northumberland Coast Loop as one of the potential future projects for the Mayor to implement, with certainly able to ‘deliver better connections within the region and to the rest of the country‘ by connecting towns such as Blyth, and areas like North Tyneside directly to North Northumberland and Scotland.
The tracks for the Northumberland Coast Loop already exist; the Newcastle to Bedlington section is in busy daily use as the Northumberland Line, with the ‘missing link’ across to Morpeth & Pegswood via Choppington used for a handful of freight trains, as well as occasional railtours such as ‘The Tynesider’ shown above. The final section runs from Morpeth North Junction (where the line to/from Bedlington connects to the East Coast Main Line (ECML)) runs towards Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth (for Alnwick), Chathill, and Berwick, before crossing the border into Scotland and running up to Edinburgh.
Hopefully at this meeting on Tuesday, the prospect of the Northumberland Coast Loop being part of the Angel Network can be raised.
Port Connector
This route in just Northumberland would link the ports at Berwick, Amble, Blyth and Tyneside together, with the latter being the site of major international ferry connections to Europe, as well as a major cruise terminal for incoming tourists, as well as outgoing holiday makers. If this was combined with, or operated as an extension of the Grand Central Sunderland to London ‘North Eastern’ service; then all the ports from Berwick to Teesside could be connected by a single rail route.
As proven by the huge success of the Northumberland Line, which has now seen over 2,000,000 passengers since reopening in December 2024 and many times more than was forecast; investment in the rail network is a very sound, strategic investment in a safe, sustainable mode of transport that has been pioneered in the region since 1608 when Huntingdon Beaumont introduced the waggonway here from his native Nottinghamshire.
Over 400 years later, rail is still the best way to move people and goods cleanly and efficiently in much greater safety than by road; with the last fatal rail accident in Northumberland for a passenger train being the 1969 Morpeth Crash.
As it stands, our petition has now been signed by 1537 people, but it is still open for more signatures: https://c.org/LPBD8vhjMb
