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; resulting in passengers being turned away at some stations. Which is not what anyone wants to see.
Shortage of Northern Units
Reasons for this crowdingis due to some the services being formed of 2-car trains, not as 4-car ones that stations are able to fit, meaning that the number of seats/standing places is limited.
This is apparently due to a shortage of rolling stock (multiple units) at Northern, with apparently no easy answers for how Northern might run four car trains between Ashington and Newcastle, without reducing services elsewhere.
This needs a quick solution, as Newsham station, the third of the six to open just a week ago, has proven highly popular and will add to the crowding of services at peak times, let alone once Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park become completed.
Solution: Use Other Operators?
One solution, particularly at a weekend when fewer scheduled services are running might be to employ other diesel or bi-mode fleets on a Newcastle – Bedlington – Pegswood – Edinburgh route (and vice versa).
Suggested stops at Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park on a new Newcastle – Edinburgh service, but Newsham/Seaton Delaval could do for now?
An example suggested some time ago on this blog was to use Transpennine Express* Class 80x bi-modes (diesel & electric) over this route; it would still offer a good overall Newcastle to Edinburgh journey time (a bit slower than via Cramlington, but still good enough, and could be compensated by a reduced fare) whilst boosting capacity on the Northumberland Line and giving a northbound connection to boot.
*other operators such as CrossCountry/LNER etc could also be considered.
Charter trains could be a further option to provide additional capacity in the short-term too.
In short, it gives the following advantages;
Quick implementation as the route and rolling stock already exists.
Alleviates the crowding issues seen on the newly opened Northumberland Line.
Gives SE Northumberland the opportunity for northbound connections into North Northumberland and Scotland.
Gives more network resilience as train drivers and crew would be familiar with the ‘B&T diversionary route’, especially given the issues with Plessey Viaduct in 2023 which highlighted the routes potential for diversionary use, as has been done in past decades.
I would like to see this option considered by Northumberland County Council, Northern etc as a way to tackle the problems of crowding on the Northumberland Line.
If it is possible, please just do it. If not, please explain why it can’t be done.
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
Massive thanks to those who have financially supported the rail petition!
Massive thanks to all contributors to the rail petition, with every donation, large or small going directly to change.org to help promote the petition for a rail service from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington; this route being used as recently as the 8th March 2025 with ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ railtour passing over it.
Let’s hope that other local rail campaigners will get behind this proposal, as they are already aware of it.
Complementing the above rail service proposal, is one for a dedicated bus service to improve connection between the Northumberland towns of Alnwick, Amble and Warkworth to Alnmouth railway station.
It was launched in response to recent comments made on the Alnwick Matters Facebook Group that buses to and from Alnmouth Station were not adequate and needed improvement, and is borne out by the strong support for the petition.
The proposal centres around providing a half-hourly bus service from the railway station to both of these towns, which is presently poorly served by other bus services, which run on an inconvenient schedule, and have a reputation for unreliability, being either late or not running at all.
This would support a better connection to all rail services, not just those proposed for the Northumberland Coast Loop.
A dedicated bus could overcome the unreliability of existing bus services, as well as making a much improved ‘bus meets train’ service connecting this popular area of Northumberland with local and national rail services.
Yet again, I would like to thank all the supporters of this campaign, who have given an amazing £44 via Change.org to help promote the petition.
In total, this represents a fantastic £60 of support via change.org to help promote these petitions, and a total of 540 signatures across both petitions.
Thank you to everyone who has made a contribution of any size, even those simply sharing these petitions with friends and family is of huge benefit at zero cost, and please help keep up the momentum!
With the recently published success of the Northumberland Line, having over 135,000 passengers quoted on the opening day of Newsham station, 92 days since opening on the 15th December shows how popular the new route between Ashington and Newcastle has already proven to be with just HALF of the new stations now open.
A recent BBC article also shows that journeys starting at these new stations on the Northumberland Line are not just local ones, to and from Newcastle. An extract below from this article states that Mr Watson (20) was using the newly opened station to travel to York.
From a conversation with a work colleague, they used the station at Seaton Delaval to reach Edinburgh via Newcastle, but there would be potential to undertake this route directly, as was shown just 10 days ago by a railtour operated by the SRPS called ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’
Direct Link to Edinburgh by Rail
Souvenir Brochure from the SRPS for the railtourSection of the route map showing the alternative route between Newcastle and Edinburgh passing through most (5/6) of the Northumberland Line stations.
As can be seen, on the late evening of the 8th March 2025, ‘The Rambler’ left Newcastle bound for Edinburgh, taking the lesser travelled route via the Northumberland Coast. With the ongoing success of the Northumberland Line, and the fantastic progress of the petition suggesting good levels of support; surely this route should feature as a logical ‘next step’ for expansion of the Northumberland Line?
Route map showing the potential station calls between Newcastle Upon Tyne and Berwick Upon Tweed by a regular rail service over the Northumberland Coast Loop
Just a simple train service over a slightly different route.
It wouldn’t need any additional stations, although it would assist the long-held case for Choppington station to be reopened, and the track is already in place to enable it (unlike the announcement for reopening Newbiggin Station, a route that lost its track decades ago).
As a local lad, I know that North Northumberland destinations like Alnwick Castle, The Alnwick Garden & Lilidorei, Barter Books, Bamburgh Castle, Seahouses and many more are popular ‘day out’ venues, whilst further afield cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Scotland more generally are ideal long day out, short break and holiday destinations from this area.
Using this route regularly would have additional benefit as a diversionary route should an incident like what happened at Plessey Viaduct in October 2023 reoccur again in future too. Drivers would be able to take the bi-mode units (electric & diesel engine/battery pack) already used on Newcastle – Edinburgh services via this alternative route.
Doing the route regularly allows the vital route knowledge to be developed and retained, and rather than running occasional empty trains, why not fill them with passengers?
It is a slightly slower route between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Blyth, but it serves larger population centres (Blyth is the largest town in Northumberland), and would bring even more benefit to the £298.5m investment into the route.
It is perhaps one of the most obvious ways to make more out of the existing network by running trains on new routes to make rail a faster and more convenient option from new stations such as this?
If you agree, please sign the petition (link at top of the page), and thanks for reading.
Please feel free to share this post to reach more people too!
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 the 17th March 2025), gives an approximate average of 1,467 passengers per day using the route.
This is particularly impressive given that the line opened with only two stations in December 2024, which excluded the largest town in Northumberland of Blyth, which once complete will be served by two stations, Newsham that opened today, and Blyth Bebside to the north of it.
Prediction: Half a million passengers by December 2025, maybe even one million?
Assuming that the current rate of 1467 passengers is maintained throughout 2025 until the first anniversary of the line opening on 15th December 2025, that would be well over half a million passengers (535,455) if the current rate of 1467 is extended over a year; but it is likely that this average will rise as more and more stations are added to the line during the course of the year.
The Northumberland Line may potentially exceed 750,000 or even one million passengers by December 2025 (only doubling average figure, which is reasonable given only ⅓ of the stations were open between December 2024 and today and carried 1467 passenger/day on average).
It’ll be interesting to see the ‘100 days’ figures if NCC can supply them on 25th March 2025!
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 ‘Big Dan Burn’, and now having an assured place in Newcastle United history.
Today, the 17th March 2025, marks the ending of the ‘rail service drought’ suffered by Blyth since late 1964 with the reopening of Newsham Station on the Northumberland Line, a little over 60 year absence now ended.
With 158851 ‘The Palindrome’ being the first unit to serve Newsham station this morning, perhaps it might be fitting to name it in honour of Big Dan & the return of trains to Blyth; his hometown and the largest in Northumberland, newly reconnected to the rail network? Perhaps even being given an NUFC livery could be a possibility?
Spotted on a local rail group, maybe an NUFC livery for ‘Palindrome/Big Dan Burn’ 158851 too?
On the back of this, other fitting namings of units could be put forward too, but given the iconic win for Newcastle United, and strong local connection, a named Northern unit could be a fitting tribute to the events of recent days?
Blyth on the football map and the rail map, but bigger could beckon?
Dan Burn has certainly done Newcastle United and all the supporters proud in the Carabao Cup win at Wembley, but hopefully this is just one small step in his football career to come!
Similarly for Blyth, I would argue that a local rail service to/from Newcastle is just a starting point, with possibilities to extend beyond Newcastle at the south end, but also beyond Bedlington to Pegswood and into North Northumberland too, with clear support for Newcastle United flying from iconic places like Alnwick Castle captured online too…
A direct rail link from Newsham and Blyth Bebside to Alnmouth (for Alnwick) is already possible using the existing rail network, and if you’d like to support our campaign to see trains run over this route, please sign the petition here.
Below is a quick summary of the Northumberland Coast Loop Rail Campaign
Lifetime near the Line
I have spent all 34 years of my life living in Northumberland, and always within a few miles of the proposed rail route; it is a place I know very well and love deeply.
The railways of this area were borne out of a need to shift coal in vast quantities from pit to port and power stations, a use that has now disappeared entirely; the main purpose of the railways going forward is the movement of people, with some goods movement alongside.
The Northumberland Line is already proving, despite being only being partially opened a huge success in this regard, having already carried 110,000 passengers within the first 12 weeks since opening (approximately 9000 per week) from just two of the six new stations.
The Northumberland Coast Loop route aims to build on this success by utilising the direct route between Bedlington and Pegswood (the Morpeth North Curve and Hepscott Line) to give most of the stations on the Northumberland Line a chance of direct connections to North Northumberland, and for Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park, potentially direct links to Edinburgh too.
Route map of the Northumberland Coast Loop
Born and bred in south east Northumberland
1990to c.2016: Raised in Bedlington, I lived encircled by railways; the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to the west, and the former ‘Blyth and Tyne’ lines to the north, east and south; any significant distance from home meant crossing one line or another.
During this time, the campaigns to reopen parts of the former ‘Blyth and Tyne Railway’ network are gaining significant traction and building momentum year on year.
The first significant step was the then MP for Wansbeck Denis Murphy announcing his support in April 1999 in the House of Commons.
2016: Moved north to Alnwick, and began using rail services more regularly to Newcastle, but commuting by car daily to SE Northumberland for work.
This highlighted the poor public transport connectivity between North Northumberland and SE Northumberland further, being used only occasionally due to lack of car access but not a viable option due to extremely long travel times and risk of being late for work.
The opening of the Borders Railway in September 2015, and it’s huge popularity from the outset gave a major boost to the potential for the Ashington to Newcastle rail service being re-established, and wider expansion of the rail network.
‘Bound for Craigy’ Railtour photographed at Barrington Road, Bedlington. 18.3.17
This railtour, coupled with the growing momentum behind reopening stations was the inspiration behind a Newcastle to Berwick/Edinburgh service via Bedlington rail service if/when the stations between Bedlington and Newcastle were reopened.
Whilst the plans to reopen what became the Northumberland Line were progressing though the GRIP process, it was at the time still far from certain that the scheme would happen.
Later in 2017, I found out I was to become a father, and welcomed my first daughter into the world shortly before Christmas that year; then becoming a father a second time in 2019 to another daughter meant that time was more limited for rail campaigning but continued by supporting other organisations that I was a member of at the time.
May 2021: The Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) for the now ‘Northumberland Line’ is submitted to the UK Department for Transport.
November2021: Storm Arwen hits Northumberland, and whilst being aware of, and concerned by Climate Change prior to this, having two small children in the midst of that storm (98mph winds were recorded at nearby Brizlee Woods), was a wake up call. Growing up in Northumberland meant being used to strong winds and storms, but Arwen was a very different, and much more severe storm than I can recall in my lifetime.
This led me to look more closely at my own stance on climate change, and to look at proposals for reducing carbon emissions at all levels could take place. The long discussed dualling of the A1 for example was due to release 1.44m tonnes of CO², alongside other negative impacts, which led to my public opposition to it being published in February 2022.
While the A1 was opposed, it is not in my view reasonable to restrict travel except in emergencies such as the pandemic; people want and need to travel, so it needs to be enabled by greener modes of transport to replace the use of private cars. The clear candidate for the A1 corridor between Newcastle and Edinburgh, is better use of the ECML between those cities and the towns/villages on route.
June 2022: The Northumberland Line TWAO is granted and works begin on the line, with appointment of Morgan Sindall to design and build stations, footbridges, and undertake major track upgrade works.
The Campaign begins proper!
February 2023: The first public blog post for the then ‘Northumberland Loop Line‘ is made as by then the Northumberland Line scheme is well underway, and is triggered by general discussions online about the next steps beyond the Northumberland Line such as expansions to Newbiggin by the Sea.
The use of the rail route west from Bedlington, and joining the East Coast Main Line at Pegswood would allow public transport to and from SE Northumberland where I grew up to be competitive with car travel to North Northumberland and Scotland, places I, and many family, friends, and work colleagues would travel to regularly.
January 2024: The campaign is slightly renamed for clarity to the Northumberland Coast Loop, and a dedicated website is launched (northumberlandcoastloop.uk).
June 2024: The ‘Blyth and Tyne Mini-Tour’ by UK Railtours runs from Newcastle to Bedlington Furnaceway Sidings and return on the 8th June 2024 (an alteration from the proposed Newcastle – Bedlington – Morpeth – Newcastle route due to a line blockade at the time between Benton Junction and Bebside). This was my first trip over the line by rail, and gave a good opportunity to take a video record of the route from Bedlington Station to Hepscott Junction on a glorious June day.
October 2024: The first petition for the then ‘Northumberland Loop’ is ended, due to the subtle name change of the campaign, but has gained 742 signatures in that time.
It is submitted by email to Councillor H.G.H. Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council who returns warm words of support for the route via email.
December 2024: The Northumberland Line opens to traffic on 15th December. I take my first trip from Ashington to Newcastle about a week later due to illness at the time the line first opened. At this time, only Ashington and Seaton Delaval stations are open for traffic.
January 2025: Over the course of the year, the dedicated website has gained 7,740 views by 6,440 visitors.
February 2025: On the 11th February, I was invited to a meeting at Ian Lavery’s office in Ashington to meet with his staff and to put forward the Northumberland Coast Loop proposals in person.
March 2025: On Saturday 8th March 2025, I was a passenger aboard the Scottish Railway Preservation (SRPS) Railtours ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘, of which part of its route ran along the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop, from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington.
Souvenir Brochure given to passengers aboard ‘The Rambler’Section of the map showing the Newcastle – Bedlington – Berwick route.Journey times of ‘The Rambler’ from Newcastle to Pegswood on 8th March 2025 (screenshot from Realtime Trains)
This railtour was an excellent opportunity to take the full proposed route from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington via most of the either newly opened or still under construction Northumberland Line stations.
On the 14th March, I received another meeting invitation, and will release news on this nearer the time.
Tomorrow, Monday the 17th March 2025 is the expected opening day of Newsham station on the Northumberland Line, bringing the line a big step closer to completion.
August 2025: Another railtour by UK Railtours ‘The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Waverley Weekender‘ is due over the N.C.L. route on its return south on Monday 25th August 2025, coming off the ECML at Morpeth North Junction, and heading south via Bedlington towards Newcastle and ultimately London.
Thanks for reading, and if you would like to support the campaign, please feel free to drop a donation via my Ko-fi page, which will help me with costs such as running this website and attending meetings.
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 route with some dual carriageway, and some single carriageway, with, as stated by David, 125 junctions from it in that length of road. These range from the most minor farm accesses through to other busy routes joining/leaving the A1.
The repeated failure of the dualling scheme for the A1 has long been held as example of Northumberland being underinvested in; with comments on the above like ‘Dual the bloody thing ,oh forgot we’re north of Watford so don’t matter‘, or ‘Dual carriage way Or is that only for the south?‘, however, the Northumberland Line is a clear example of where investment IS being made in Northumberland, which goes a long way to dispel this long held view.
With the multiple challenges of road safety, economic growth and climate change, the only real solution that stands out is to improve rail connections;
Rail travel is far safer, with the last rail passenger fatality on the ECML in Northumberland happening in 1969 (crash of the Aberdonian at Morpeth Curve that tragically killed six people, but marked the last fatal passenger rail crash in Northumberland, which will be 56 years ago on the 7th May 2025. The last injuries in a rail accident in Northumberland was again at Morpeth Curve in the 1984 derailment of a sleeper train.
That this one location has seen four accidents is notable as railways are amongst the safest modes of transport and accidents are rare, and so are highly notable, tragically many people die or are severely injured every year on Northumberland roads, and because of their frequency, often attract minimal attention, despite driving or being driven being one of the most dangerous of daily activities for many.
Part of any investment could be a new stretch of ECML to create a ‘Morpeth Diversion’, first touted by HMRI Inspector Captain Henry Tyler in 1877, though not yet built, which would remove this notorious curve, and improve improve both capacity and linespeeds, meaning faster and safer journeys on the ECML.
Railways boost economic growth, proven by the positive benefit to cost ratio of the Northumberland Line (BCR of 1.5), compared to the A1 which had a BCR of just 0.8, this meaning an effective economic loss by dualling the road. Some of the most deprived areas in Northumberland are adjacent to the A189, proving that roads don’t always lead to prosperity.
Climate change is resolved by modal shift of people and goods away from petrol, diesel and even electric vehicles and onto much cleaner and greener rail travel; which has long been capable of 100% electric travel, with the ECML wired since the 1990’s in Northumberland.
Rail is a proven success story
The northern end of the Northumberland Line is just a few miles from Morpeth, and has proven a HUGE success in just its first few months in service, and even then only being partially open with only Ashington and Seaton Delaval open at present (Newsham opening expected on Monday 17th March, the third of six new stations on the route).
In addition, the East Coast Main Line (ECML), which virtually runs in parallel from Morpeth to Berwick has long been an excellent and very popular route for passengers to travel to, from, within and through Northumberland; but it is nearing or at capacity, meaning that transporting more people by rail is challenging without further investment, though some changes could be done within the existing infrastructure.
The Northumberland Coast Loop proposal seeks to use an existing connection (the Hepscott Line) to link the newly reopened Northumberland Line to the East Coast Main Line. This would allow a new through service between Newcastle and Berwick/Edinburgh to run via Blyth, the largest town in Northumberland; enabling modal shift onto rail by offering a faster and more convenient rail service as soon as possible from these newly built railway stations.
Whilst the local service between Newcastle and Berwick is a known possibility, the clear and sensible course of action is to grow the capacity of the ECML and other routes to meet demand for transport, as it is far cleaner and greener than alternative modes.
Invest in the ECML to carry more people and goods, alongside improving junctions on the A1.
The campaign here seeks to push for more investment into the ECML, as well as connecting rail routes such as the Northumberland Coast Loop and reconnection of towns such as Alnwick by mixed heritage/commuter railways such as the Aln Valley Railway.
This mixed approach is complimentary to both schemes; making the road safer is further improved by drawing more traffic away from the A1 and onto the rail network. More rail passengers and freight by rail creates a virtuous loop of more investment drawing more traffic inwards and continuous development of the system.
Let’s see a detailed plan by Network Rail/Great British Railways of how doubling the capacity of the ECML in Northumberland could be achieved by 2040.
New stations in locations such as Belford, or at Beal (for Lindisfarne and Haggerston Castle) would also be a major part of this increasing capacity by reopening a limited number of stations in Northumberland.
Make rail fares fairer
The Northumberland Line is again a great example of something different being tried with great success; it has been started with a simple and cheap fare structure, tied into the Tyne and Wear Metro network meaning a modest maximum fare for travel (£3 max single price for Ashington to Newcastle, or £6 return).
This type of fare structure could be applied to some (but ideally all) trips from Berwick to Newcastle (and stations between), which again could drive modal shift onto rail, as had been seen with the Northumberland Line, a key aim of which was to reduce traffic volumes on the A189 Spine Road. The ECML could repeat that policy on the A1 by simply having cheap fares and more seats available (longer trains and more of them).
New rail routes and dedicated buses for towns away from the ECML
The plans for the above should also include the potential for new rail routes such as the Northumberland Coast Loop (giving a direct route to/from Blyth and other towns in SE Northumberland), as well as new routes beyond Newcastle. Direct links to cities such as Carlisle could be improved (only served modestly by the ‘Chathill Flyer’ at present, as well as new links to cities such as Sunderland or areas such as Teesside worthy of consideration too.
What could also be transformative is a dedicated bus connection from towns such as Alnwick or Amble that are some distance away from the ECML to have improved access, with my petition for this gaining quite a lot of support in recent weeks, having 258 signatures at time of writing.
If you’d like to support me and the Northumberland Coast Loop, please consider a donation via my Ko-fi page.
On Saturday 8th March 2025, I was one of the many passengers aboard ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘, operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. It promised to be an epic and spectacular tour of Southern Scotland and Northern England, passing through Edinburgh, the outskirts of Glasgow, before heading south to Carlisle, a big loop taken around the North West, before heading east to Tyneside and north through Northumberland back to the start.
I would like to say right from the outset that the whole railtour was exemplary from start to finish, going smoothly with no drama at all, and being very well looked after by the onboard staff too. Prices for on-train food and drinks from the buffet were very reasonable (much less than many high-street outlets for similar products).
All in all an excellent tour and I would heartily recommend SRPS Railtours to anyone wishing to try one.
Well done SRPS Railtours, and all the best with your future ones, I’ll certainly be coming back when I can!
Quick Summary of the Railtour
Locomotives confirmed for the trip via the SRPS social media feed on Friday 7th March
Starting with 20132 and 20118 from Linlithgow with 37403 on the back, a change of the first two Class 20’s was due at Carlisle (being swapped for 20096 and 20107, 37403 remaining on the back of the train), then a trip south over the Settle and Carlisle, then via Hellifield and Preston, run back up to Carlisle over the West Coast Main Line. Back at Carlisle a second time meant the final change of traction with the two Class 20’s leaving, and 37409 coupling onto 37403 for the final leg along the Tyne Valley Line through Hexham to Newcastle, up the Northumberland Line to Bedlington, then across again to Pegswood via Hepscott, and taking the final miles of the trip back to Linlithgow and a finish for the day!
Early Start at Linlithgow
With a departure from Linlithgow in the wee hours (06:11, with passengers asked to arrive ten minutes before this), meant a very early departure from home in Alnwick on a quite misty and damp morning. Setting off in ample time meant arrival at Linlithgow far too early, but an opportunity to watch an episode and a bit of the excellent Toxic Town on Netflix while waiting in the car.
20132 and 20118, with 37403 on the back of the train enter a packed Linlithgow station shortly after 6am on Saturday morning
As can be seen from the above image, most passengers for the tour appear to have joined at Linlithgow, but some did join at Edinburgh and Carlisle too.
Souvenir Brochure for ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ Route map of the tour, starting at Linlithgow (top centre), to Edinburgh, curving back around and heading west towards Glasgow (top left) before south towards Carlisle. From Carlisle, it goes south (centre of page), then heads west to Preston (bottom left), back north to Carlisle, then east to Newcastle (middle right), then Bedlington before back north and west to Linlithgow.
The First Stop at Carlisle
Upon reaching Carlisle from Linlithgow and Edinburgh, the first pair of Class 20’s (20132 and 20118) left the train, to be replaced by 20096 and 20107 for the second leg of the tour over the Settle and Carlisle Line, then back to Carlisle via Preston and the West Coast Mainline.
Below are a few photos of the new locomotives being coupled onto the train, and a few shots from my seat in Coach B.
The second pair of Class 20’s joining the tour at Carlisle. Blea Moor SignalboxBeautiful Scenery en-routeAnd some more Preston StationWest Coast Railways Yard at CarnforthA few more scenic shots! Last one for now!
Arriving at Carlisle Again
The second arrival of the day at Carlisle was for the second and final locomotive change of the day, with both the Class 20’s leaving the train completely at the ‘Scotland’ end of Carlisle station, with 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’ remaining coupled on the ‘London’ end, to be joined by classmate 37409 ‘Loch Awe’, for the third and final leg of the trip from Carlisle to Linlithgow via Bedlington.
Close up of the route from Hexham (lower left) to Drem (top left) via Newcastle and Bedlington (lower right)
Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington, at last!
This leg of the tour was the predominant interest for me as founder of this campaign, as it was the first opportunity for me to actually travel the route since being inspired by seeing the ‘Bound for Craigy’ railtour on the Barrington Road, Bedlington on the 18th March 2017, a trip that inspired the idea of the Northumberland Coast Loop, almost eight years previously.
The ‘Bound for Craigy’ Railtour of March 2017 seen on the Hepscott Line near Bedlington. A fair bit of time had elapsed between seeing a railtour via this route and actually riding along it!
While darkness had long fallen before departure from Newcastle, it was great to actually ‘ride the route’ for myself. I did take a video from the window between Blyth Bebside and Pegswood, but unfortunately it is a very dark section of line, so it doesn’t really do the route justice, though I have uploaded it (original sound removed due to passengers holding conversations, and replaced with a generic soundtrack), should you wish to view it.
Most importantly was the actual data from the excellent Realtime Trains website, which allowed an actual recording of the timings for the ‘loop’ section from Newcastle to Pegswood.
Using rounded times, the train left Newcastle at 19:21, passed Bedlington at 20:00, so 39 minutes later, largely due to a prolonged stop at Seghill Junction (approx 12 mins). From Bedlington to Pegswood (passed at 20:18) took a mere 18 minutes, bearing in mind a near four minute stop at Morpeth North Junction to exit onto the ECML.
This gave an overall Newcastle to Pegswood journey time of 57minutes, but again has to be weighed against a heavier and slower heritage train taking the route rather than a modern, relatively lightweight unit, if the latter was used, journey times could potentially, and almost certainly be reduced further.
It is clear that a direct rail route from Bedlington to the north would offer significant time savings, as well as greater convenience and ease of use compared to travelling via Newcastle (as at present), or by travelling into Morpeth to change trains.
N.C.L. Target 2030
With the huge success of the Northumberland Line becoming apparent despire only Seaton Delaval and Ashington stations being open as of the 11th March 2025, yet the route has already carried in excess of 110,000 passengers so far; and with Newsham due to open on the 17th March, this should provide another major jump in numbers using the line.
Given this huge success, beating many of the optimists bravest predictions; it hopefully won’t take too long for the proposed route from Newcastle to Berwick or Edinburgh via Bedlington to be trialled.
I would like to see a trial implemented before the end of 2030, which allows for services to be bedded in once all stations are opened, time to work on timetabling to see what services can be run over the route, and to hopefully see the route running before turning 40 myself!
On the evening of Saturday 8th March 2025, a pair of Class 37 locos leading ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘ railtour, operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society will depart Newcastle bound for Edinburgh, via the Northumberland Line, marking the inaugural railtour over the line since reopening for passenger trains in December 2024.
The section of route through SE Northumberland is sometimes referred to as the ‘Morpeth Avoiding Line’ (M.A.L.), which has been used on a number of occasions for diversions around the unfortunately not so infrequent accidents at Morpeth, with three major incidents between the opening of the Morpeth North Curve in 1980 and today, these occuring in 1984, 1992, and 1994, the ’84 and ’94 accidents being a result of trains having excessive speed around the notorious Morpeth Curve that resulted in derailments, which the ’92 accident was the result of a collision between two freight trains, tragically the latter resulting in the death of the locomotive driver.
Hopefully the days of incidents due to speeding or collisions in the Morpeth area has passed and with luck will never occur again, but now with anticipated opening of five new stations on the ‘Morpeth Avoiding Line’ serving many large towns and settlements along its route, perhaps the time has come to use it routinely?
The Northumberland Line to Bedlington
The train will follow the usual route of the popular Northumberland Line services, passing the as yet incomplete Northumberland Park station (due to open later in 2025), then open and proving highly popular Seaton Delaval, followed by soon to open Newsham (expected to open on Monday 17th March 2025), next is Blyth Bebside, and finally Bedlington; the latter two stations due to open on an as yet unspecified date in 2025.
Through Choppington and Hepscott
At Bedlington station, and its adjacent, logically named Bedlington Junction, the railtour will then bear left, leaving the Northumberland Line and heading along what could be called the ‘Hepscott Line’ towards its namesake village, just east of Morpeth. This will take the railtour train over the A1068 at Choppington level crossing, site of the former railway station and one being actively campaigned to be reopened.
Hepscott Junction and Morpeth North Curve
Just after passing through the village of Hepscott he train will encounter another sensibly named junction called Hepscott Junction, the left hand route heading into Morpeth station, which would then point the train back towards Newcastle. This route is more commonly used by railtours to ‘turn’ the train around when it has approached Newcastle from the south, and by using the ‘balloon loop’ formed by a Newcastle – Bedlington – Morpeth – Newcastle route, allows loco hauled trains to be turned without uncoupling locomotives.
However, The Rambler is bound for Scotland, so at Hepscott Junction it will take the lesser used and less well known right hand branch; the 1980 opened Morpeth North Curve, taking the train around the north east edge of Coopies Lane industrial estate. This route rejoins the East Coast Main Line (ECML) at Morpeth North Junction, with the railtour then shortly afterwards crossing Pegswood Viaduct over the River Wansbeck, passing through Pegswood Station and making its way along the ECML through major stations such as Alnmouth and Berwick, before crossing the Scottish Border at Marshall Meadows and entering Scotland in the late evening, bound for Edinburgh and Linlithgow, where the service terminates.
Regular Service Proposal
The key object of this campaign is to see the above route used routinely for passenger services, being a mix of:
Local Rail Service (all stations between Newcastle and Alnmouth/Berwick via Bedlington).
Semi-fast Rail Service (some stations between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Bedlington), with options to extend the route onwards beyond Newcastle headed east towards Sunderland and the Durham Coast, south towards Durham, York and more, or west toward Carlisle. From Edinburgh, options could be taken for destinations further into Scotland.
The case for such services via the M.A.L. is that towns such as Blyth, Bedlington and even Cramlington currently rely on connections via Morpeth, a much smaller town that is far more distant than stations on the Northumberland Line, particularly when compared to Blyth Bebside, which is easily reached from a wide catchment area by rail (Northumberland Line services from Ashington, and future proposed expansions to Woodborn and Newbiggin pass through this station already), with easy connections also possible by bus, road and by active travel routes too.
Bringing long distance rail services via this route would bring trains closer to the population centres that the trains would serve, rather than the less than ideal awkwardness of travelling to Morpeth to then catch onward services.
Could similar bi-modes to 802213 be seen in Blyth Bebside soon?
The above image of TPE unit 802213 shows the type of train that might ideally be suited to a semi-fast operation via Bedlington, with a five car unit potentially able to stop in the relatively short platforms of the new Northumberland Line stations, and these trains being bi-modes; having electric capability on the ECML, but diesel/battery to work on unwired sections of line such as the M.A.L.
Journey times are also quite reasonable, whilst it is a longer and slower route to travel via Bedlington, it is not unduly slow, offering an overall potential journey time of around 131mins (2hrs 11mins) from Newcastle to Edinburgh.
The Northumberland Coast Loop 