As a Northumberland resident and a frequent user personally of the A1, it was very welcome to see David Smith, MP for North Northumberland meeting with officials from National Highways to show them several problematic junctions along this stretch of road between Morpeth and Berwick. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a mixed routeContinue reading “Response to David Smith MP, North Northumberland on A1 Junction Improvements, BUT is improving and upgrading ECML the real solution?”
Category Archives: Northumberland Line
Newsham Station Opening News
News has broken today that Newsham Station on the Northumberland Line is now due to open on Monday 17th March 2025. This third station opening marks continued progress of the Northumberland Line project and a ‘halfway mark’ with three completed stations and three remaining to be opened up (Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, and Northumberland Park). AsContinue reading “Newsham Station Opening News”
110,000+ Passengers since Opening, Newsham Station Opening Soon and Blackstone Funding for Extensions; Lot’s of Northumberland Line News!
The last few days marks a few important pieces of news from the Northumberland Line project, with an expansion of the line to Newbiggin By The Sea proposed yesterday, and opening of Newsham Station in March announced today; each piece has important relevance to the Northumberland Coast Loop campaign, and will be outlined separately below.Continue reading “110,000+ Passengers since Opening, Newsham Station Opening Soon and Blackstone Funding for Extensions; Lot’s of Northumberland Line News!”
The Seven Counties Rambler: Timetable Released
A quick check of realtimetrains.com has revealed the timings of the SRPS Railtour ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’, due over the Northumberland Line/Hepscott Line as working 1Z34, the 17:38 Carlisle to Linlithgow. This will be hauled, as far as is known so far by a pair of Class 37 locomotives, one of which is due toContinue reading “The Seven Counties Rambler: Timetable Released”
Northumberland Line: 50k Journeys In The First Month and more N.C.L. News!
Northumberland Line: 50,000 journeys already! A recent post from Northumberland County Council (see screenshot below) shows that the Northumberland Line is off to a very strong start, with 50,000 journeys being made in the first month since opening. This has also been published on Rail Advent. This is despite the line opening with just twoContinue reading “Northumberland Line: 50k Journeys In The First Month and more N.C.L. News!”
Northumberland Line: Station Opening Update, January 2025
As reported in the January 2025 issue of The Railway Magazine, p. 9. Ashington: Opened 15th December 2024 Bedlington: Late 2025 Blyth Bebside: Summer 2025 Newsham: February 2025 Seaton Delaval: Opened 15th December 2024 Northumberland Park: Late 2025
The Rambler Heading Over Rare Track
On 8th March 2025, eight weeks from today, The Seven Counties Rambler, operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) is due along the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop route between Newcastle and Edinburgh, travelling via the Northumberland Line as far as Bedlington, before taking the Hepscott Line and Morpeth North Curve to rejoin the EastContinue reading “The Rambler Heading Over Rare Track”
Developing The Northumberland Coast Loop: Better Than Dualling The A1?
Building on this blog post that opposes further dualling of the A1 in Northumberland, could the Northumberland Coast Loop (N.C.L.) be part of the alternative investment? The premise of the N.C.L. is to provide large towns such as Blyth, and areas such as North Tyneside a direct rail link northwards, by using the existing freightContinue reading “Developing The Northumberland Coast Loop: Better Than Dualling The A1?”
Just Nine Weeks To Go!
Today, Saturday 4th January 2025, marks the nine week countdown until ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ organised by the SRPS takes to the rails on the 8th March 2025. This railtour, beginning and ending in Linlithgow, Scotland will take in a number of spectacular lines on it’s excursion around Scotland and Northern England (take a lookContinue reading “Just Nine Weeks To Go!”
New Year’s Eve 2024: #Railway416 in the Valley of the River Blyth
As part of the Railway200 series written in the December 2024 edition of The Railway Magazine, on pages 18 and 19, is a feature for Railway200 entitled ‘Coal trains, first and last?’, written by Bob Gwynne, railway author and one of the team at the National Railway Museum. Ancient Greece is where it all began.Continue reading “New Year’s Eve 2024: #Railway416 in the Valley of the River Blyth”
The Northumberland Coast Loop 