The Northumberland Coast Loop is a proposal to use the existing, route between Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Berwick-Upon-Tweed via Bedlington, this being an alternative route to the main East Coast Main Line via Morpeth & Cramlington.
This website and campaign is entirely self-funded by myself (Ryan Hogg). I am a born and bred Northumbrian who has lived with a few miles of the Northumberland Coast all of my life. I derive no financial gains from this website or the campaign, I purely seek to see better connectivity within the Northumberland Coast area, of which I believe rail will form the backbone, with integated buses and other modes playing an important role.
Connecting the Northumberland Coast
As can be seen from the map above, the route would connect Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to Berwick-Upon-Tweed.
The route, starting from Newcastle, would first head along the East Coast Main Line (ECML), travelling through Manors, and then head along the Northumberland Line, passing through Northumberland Park (for North Tyneside), Seaton Delaval, Newsham, Blyth Bebside, and Bedlington, this forming ‘The Loop’ component of the proposal.
At Bedlington, trains would then head towards Hepscott, and rejoin the ECML at Morpeth North Junction, which would allow trains to directly travel towards Pegswood. Morpeth Station can’t be served by the route as the trains would then be facing towards Newcastle and a reversal on the mainline at Morpeth is unlikely as a routine operation day to day.
Pegswood and beyond northwards would simply be via the ECML, the only novel element of this proposal is using the Morpeth North Curve (built in April 1980) to give a new through service ‘along the loop’ between Pegswood and Newcastle via Bedlington, taking in the very southern end of the Northumberland Coast and North Tyneside.
Proposed Services
SEMI-FAST
A semi-fast service (calling at all/some of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Alnmouth (for Alnwick), Pegswood, Blyth Bebside, Northumberland Park and Newcastle Upon Tyne) would perhaps be the initial service for the route, and a better fit within the ECML timetable than a local service (a known but not insurmountable challenge on the ECML through Northumberland).
Such a service could give speedy connections within Northumberland (i.e. Berwick or Alnmouth to Blyth Bebside) or between North Northumberland & North Tyneside. The stations for semi-fast trains have been selected based on a number of factors, which will be more specifically detailed for each station in later sections.
As semi-fast services are more likely to be part of much longer routes, it would also give stations ‘on the loop’ direct connections to more distant cities and towns, the benefits to each stop are outlined below.
LOCAL TRAINS
The other service proposal is for a local ‘all stations’ service along the proposed route, which would be the optimal solution for connectivity between stations, especially the smaller ones on route which are not proposed to be served by semi-fast trains.
As stated in the semi-fast trains section above, local trains are constrained in the ECML in Northumberland today (April 2024) by use of ageing diesel units (Class 156/158) and the service north of Morpeth is highly limited with some stations seeing as few as three trains per day.
The proposed replacement of rolling stock for Northern Trains was announced in August 2023, which should ease this situation, especially if bi-mode trains can be procured that can run of both electrified and non-electrified lines and have better performance than current diesel units.
That being said, even if just two trains a day were to run over the N.C.L. and were staggered away from the current service serving places like Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth and Chathill, it would at least double the present service level and thus improve service provision.
Perhaps a midday and late evening train could be considered on this route?
Station by Station
Newcastle Upon Tyne
This station is the key one for the North East region, and services may either terminate here or run through Newcastle onto three different potential routes (Tyne Valley, ECML or Durham Coast Line) and all trains would likely stop in Newcastle for interchange with a wide range of other services, including the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Manors
This station is intended for local services only on the Northumberland Coast Loop, but is important due to closer proximity to areas such as the Quayside, Northumbria University and much more.
Northumberland Park: Serving North Tyneside
The station at Northumberland Park is very well placed to serve North Tyneside, forming an obvious interchange with the Tyne and Wear Metro, but also allowing easier access to business parks such as Cobalt Park (Getting Here), which partially sells itself on close connections to London King’s Cross – couldn’t direct services from Northumberland Park make it even more attractive for business?
Northumberland Park could also be very well placed for connections between the international ferries operated by DFDS to Amsterdam (for onward connections to Europe), something highlighted by YouTuber Steve Marsh where he travels from his native Scotland to Newcastle to make the ferry connection.
Serving South East Northumberland Better
As it presently stands, Morpeth is generally the main stop for trains in this this area of Northumberland, but geographically, Morpeth is in the north-western corner of the urban area and is the 5th largest town in Northumberland by population (14,419 at 2021 Census), the Northumberland Coast Loop, running via Bedlington (part of the soon to open Northumberland Line) could offer a good opportunity to put services closer to larger population centres and encouraging more rail travel and allowing easier modal shift.
While Cramlington is also on the East Coast Main Line, has it own station, and is far larger than neighbouring Morpeth (almost exactly double in population at 28,843 persons at the 2021 Census), Cramlington has long been comparatively poorly served, predominately having a local service between Newcastle and Morpeth with very few, if any, long distance trains.
The Northumberland Coast Loop, by comparison, passes much more centrally through South East Northumberland, with the line passing between or through towns such as Blyth (39,731), Cramlington (28,843) and Bedlington (16,193), and many smaller communities en-route.
Blyth Bebside station is particular has been selected as a key ‘hub’ for the area under the proposal as its location is great for Blyth, Cramlington and Bedlington with easy links by walking, cycling, public transport and by car (easy access from the A189 Spine Road & A193), which would be serving a population of almost 85,000 just considering those three nearby towns. This would ideally be a stop for semi-fast services for that reason.
The location on the A189 could also allow easier access for distant places like Ashington, Newbiggin and more by road, but also easy interchange by rail via the Northumberland Line and future expansions of it.
From Bedlington, the route would then connect back to the East Coast Mainline via the Morpeth North Curve, headed for Pegswood, from there passing through Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth for Alnwick, Chathill and arriving at Berwick-Upon-Tweed.
There is potential to extend the route at both ends, the Newcastle end offering options along the Tyne Valley Line, Durham Coast Line or further along the East Coast Main Line through Durham, while the Berwick end would offer options for travel into Scotland toward Edinburgh.
The Northumberland Coast Loop alongside the Northumberland Line and other services
The Northumberland Coast Loop is a proposed route alongside the Northumberland Line services due to start in Summer 2024 between Ashington and Newcastle.
Similarly, the service would also work alongside the proposed extension of the Newcastle to Morpeth local train to Morpeth.
On the East Coast Main Line (ECML), the Northumberland Coast Loop services would mix in amongst other mainline services.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 