In Episode 48 of the excellent Green Signals podcast, presenter Richard Bowker takes a trip with GBRf CEO John Smith on the North Blyth to Fort William alumina train (the ‘Alcan tanks’), starting at c.17:00 minutes into the above video, it showcases the route from Springburn, near Glasgow to Spean Bridge, near Fort William in Scotland,Continue reading “Green Signals Podcast on the North Blyth – Fort William Alumina; can we see a North Blyth to the Border or Beyond Video?”
Author Archives: hogg1905
Northumberland Line: Nearing Quarter of a Million Passenger Trips & Future Expansion Plans
News has just broken from The Chronicle that the Northumberland Line is expected to reach 250,000 trips by Easter 2025; mere months after opening in December 2025, and with only half of the stations opened. This is excellent news for the route, which has seen reopening campaigns since the mid 1970’s, with a meeting betweenContinue reading “Northumberland Line: Nearing Quarter of a Million Passenger Trips & Future Expansion Plans”
Call to Kim McGuinness: Invest in the ECML and N.C.L. in Northumberland, and drop dualling the A1.
There has been a recent, and largely very welcome announcement in recent days about a £208m transport investment, part of a larger overall ‘£8.3bn transport vision’ which includes welcome schemes such as reopening of the Leamside Line, integrated ticketing, and wider public transport and active travel improvements. That being said, dualling the A1 has onceContinue reading “Call to Kim McGuinness: Invest in the ECML and N.C.L. in Northumberland, and drop dualling the A1.”
Achtung! Achtung! Walking the Northumberland Coast Loop: Morpeth Railway Station to Morpeth North Junction
To borrow the phrase often used on the ‘We have ways of making you talk’ a WW2 podcast by comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland, let us ‘walk the ground’ of Northumberland Coast Loop for the short section between Pegswood and Bedlington that, so far, is not used regularly for passenger trains. This routeContinue reading “Achtung! Achtung! Walking the Northumberland Coast Loop: Morpeth Railway Station to Morpeth North Junction”
The N.C.L. an option to alleviate Northumberland Line overloading?
It is great to see that the first 100 days of the Northumberland Line (Sunday 15th December 2024 to Monday 24th March 2025), the recently reopened route is an undoubted success. On the flip side of this, some trains are proving so popular that at peak times there are not enough trains to satisfy demand;Continue reading “The N.C.L. an option to alleviate Northumberland Line overloading?”
N.C.L. News: Newcastle, Bedlington & Edinburgh Rail Link, plus the Alnwick to Amble Bus Meets Train Campaign.
Newcastle – Bedlington – Edinburgh Rail Service Campaign As of 21.3.25, the petition for the Northumberland Coast Loop route to Edinburgh from Newcastle (Newcastle – Bedlington – Pegswood – Berwick – Edinburgh) is performing well with 237 verified signatures It has also now got a much easier link to view and sign it at https://www.change.org/northumberlandcoastloopedinburghContinue reading “N.C.L. News: Newcastle, Bedlington & Edinburgh Rail Link, plus the Alnwick to Amble Bus Meets Train Campaign.”
An Ode to the Northumberland Coast Loop
Toon to Berwick a service by rail, Hugging the beautiful coast, in hand spade and pail, Starting from the mighty Tyne, And crossing over the tiny Lyne, Passing places like Seaton Delaval Hall, It is a route that has it all, To the reach and cross formidable Tweed, For this rail link, there is aContinue reading “An Ode to the Northumberland Coast Loop”
N.C.L. Passenger Petition Flying Forward for a Direct Rail Link to Edinburgh from SE Northumberland
Just over a month since the launch of the new petition calling for a Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park rail service, it is performing strongly, with 232 signatures at the time of writing. With the recently published success of the Northumberland Line, having over 135,000 passengers quoted on the opening dayContinue reading “N.C.L. Passenger Petition Flying Forward for a Direct Rail Link to Edinburgh from SE Northumberland”
Fantastic Figures for the Northumberland Line; over 1400 passengers per day!
With the opening of Newsham, another update on passenger figures has been released, with over 135,000 passengers recorded since the opening of the route on the 15th December 2024. 1,467 passengers per day on average Taking the 135,000 passengers since opening figure, and by simple division of the 92 days since opening (excluding today theContinue reading “Fantastic Figures for the Northumberland Line; over 1400 passengers per day!”
Should ‘Big Dan Burn’ get a Northern train named after him?
The Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday 16th March 2025 marked the end of the ‘Newcastle United Trophy Drought’, with the first domestic football victory in 70 years for the club, with the last being in 1955. One of the stars of the match being the Blyth lad Daniel Burn, affectionately known as ‘BigContinue reading “Should ‘Big Dan Burn’ get a Northern train named after him?”
The Northumberland Coast Loop 