The Northumberland Coast Loop

From Newcastle, to Bedlington, and then Edinburgh by rail: just one week to go!

It is just one week until ‘The Seven Counties Rambler‘ a railtour operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society is due to run along the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop route between Newcastle and Berwick/Edinburgh via Bedlington, this happening on the 8th March 2025.

Haulage over the Newcastle – Edinburgh via Blyth section is due to be a pair of Class 37’s, No. 37403 and 37409 (subject to availability on the day), having swapped with a pair of Class 20’s at Carlisle.

This leg is the final part of a very long rail route due to take in some magnificent scenery; some of which I sampled just today with a trip up to Edinburgh with my family, and earlier in the week with a trip down to York.

Unfortunately, this leg of the Rambler tour will be in darkness between Newcastle, Bedlington, and Edinburgh, due to its late evening departure from Newcastle heading northwards, but the route is still an important one for this campaign.

A quick win for Northumberland Line expansion?

The above railtour demonstrates the potential to use the Newcastle – Bedlington – Berwick route to great effect by expanding the range of services running via the Northumberland Line, and the potential to provide a direct link between SE Northumberland and Scotland.

802213 sits at Edinburgh Waverley, 28.2.25

Bi-mode units could service the route…

The above Class 802 unit, or one of it’s brethren, as part of the Transpennine Express fleet could become a regular sight around the former ‘Blyth and Tyne’ once the Northumberland Line is fully up and running, and if the Northumberland Coast Loop proposal is taken forward.

Class 802 units, like the one photographed above are 125mph capable bi-mode units, running on electric where possible, but also having a diesel ‘off wire’ capability, which means that if these units were cleared to use the ‘Blyth and Tyne’, as well as driver route knowledge being developed would potentially face very few obstacles to supporting of a routine service via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park.

…using existing infrastructure…

The track is already in place, and is used regularly for railfreight (mostly the North Blyth – Fort William ‘Alcan’ service), as well as the occasional railtour such as the Rambler next week, so the route is there and presumably ready to use.

The existing/soon to exist Northumberland Line stations could possibly accomodate these short 5 car units without needing modifications to platforms (this would need to be verified, however). As a worst case scenario, a system such as selective door opening could be applied, which is a familiar and widely used system for long trains calling at short platforms.

…a small bit of additional route knowledge for train drivers…

From a route learning perspective, it could be argued that most, if not all, Newcastle – Edinburgh train drivers should be also trained on this diversionary route, which given the issues at Plessey Viaduct in 2023, could be pertinent should a similar issue occur again, or in the instance of a bridge strike etc.

To gain this route knowledge, and to also retain it, using the route regularly would likely be a key factor, and why not benefit the large population of North Tyneside and the Blyth Valley by picking-up and setting down passengers too?

…adds up to big benefits in resilience and better rail services.

Let’s hope that this new route will be actively considered as one of the next expansions to the Northumberland Line, and allow it to bring even greater prosperity to SE Northumberland.

If you’d like to support me with this campaign, please check out my Ko-fi page!

Thanks, RH.

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).

As the Northumberland Line progresses towards completion, the Northumberland Coast Loop will hopefully begin to emerge as one of the logical ‘next step’ schemes to expand the network.

On this front, the petition to start a Newcastle – Northumberland Park – Blyth Bebside – Berwick – Edinburgh rail route has climbed to 136 signatures since being started on February the 13th, so if you haven’t already signed, please do so!

Thanks, RH.

February Fun All Done: Two Days out by Rail from Alnmouth

This week has been a rail-filled one with family and friends, with the first a trip to York on Tuesday 25th, and a second a trip to Edinburgh on Friday 28th.

Both trips started at my local station, Alnmouth (for Alnwick), accessed by using the car as travelling with my young family.

Parking on both days was easy with ample availability of spaces on both days. On the day of the York visit, I used the Northern car park, and paid the £1.90 all day fee via the RingGo app on my phone, whilst on Friday, I changed to use the Northumberland County Council car park paying by cash at the (very heavy frosted) ticket machine for £1.50 for 24hrs. In both cases the respective systems worked really well, and parking was straightforward.

A very uneventful arrival at the station on both days; smooth sailing!

Trip to York (25.2.25)

A little trip to York with my family plus another family group to visit the National Railway Museum and the fantastic WONDERLAB within, if you are doing the NRM, a visit to the WONDERLAB is worth doing in my opinion, with plenty to keep my not-especially-train-enthused children entertained for ages.

For me as the ‘big kid’, a look around the roundhouse was enjoyable, but with very few photos without the family in! A token one showing the tired wheels on ‘Agenoria’ will have to suffice I’m afraid!

Grand Central ‘Adelante’ bound for Sunderland standing at York while awaiting our CrossCountry train.

Down to Alnmouth and home on Tuesday 25th

The trip to York and back was hard to fault in any respect; the train towards York was slightly late arriving at Alnmouth, but the passenger information systems were working well to communicate the delay. Once aboard, everything was again uneventful, the train was well loaded with most seats taken from quick observation of the carriage I was riding in, and was similarly well loaded on the return trip.

The CrossCountry trains in both directions were clean and comfortable for the trip, again a no complaint and uneventful trip.

Happy day out all around and well done to CrossCountry Trains!

Trip to Edinburgh (28.2.25)

Cold and frosty early morning at Alnmouth on Friday 28th February, a visit to the soon to close catering van meant I missed the approach of my train, but I managed to capture the ‘Chathill Flyer’ bound for Carlisle.

The trip just finished at time of writing was a longer day spent in Edinburgh mainly for a full day at Edinburgh Zoo, with an arrival at Alnmouth well before 07:30, meaning a quick trip to the catering van on the southbound side near to the waiting room.

The lovely lady in the catering van said that this is her final few days there before she leaves Alnmouth Station to take a long break; I would like to wish her well for tge future being a long standing resident of the station.

Very reasonable fee for 24hrs at Alnmouth of just £1.50.

Early doors for Edinburgh from Alnmouth, but the spectacular Northumberland Coast on such a fine morning was a great compensation for rising early.

View towards Lindisfarne, the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Sunrise over Berwick from the Royal Border Bridge

The photo doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the route.

Edinburgh looking spectacular on such a bright day!

The main attraction of the day, an easy trip via Lothian Buses No. 26 in each direction

Giraffe Artwork outside of the Giraffe House

A quick last snap before re-entry into Waverley Station

Upon entering Waverley with some time to spare, a few obligatory snaps were taken

CrossCountry unit stabled until departure

43137 on Platform 19 at Waverley on the way to Platform 7.

802213 ‘Unity’ was the unit for the homeward trip from Edinburgh.

The trip home after a great day in Edinburgh!

802213 departs Alnmouth towards Newcastle.

Again, it was a very uneventful and smoothly running day with regards the train & bus trip to Edinburgh Zoo today, the trains were very clean, and with again just a few minutes late running at certain points resulted in a very successful trip for our family day out.

Well done to Transpennine Express for such a great service, and also to Lothian buses for running the excellent 26 bus from Princes Street to Edinburgh Zoo, which at £10.50 for a family day ticket is excellent value, with a very frequent service along the route too.

Summary

Overall, both days stood as impressive in my view by how smoothly and efficiently both days just ‘worked’ and there was no hassle or stress attached. Well done to all involved and I’ll be certainly aiming to go by rail again with my family, perhaps on a bigger adventure too!

Alnwick Castle in Top 5 Trainsplit Rankings. Response from the N.C.L.

A recent Chronicle article outlined how railway ticket company Trainsplit has listed Alnwick Castle as one of the UK’s Top 5 filming locations within easy access by rail.

It is great to see sustainable modes of travel to fantastic attractions such as Alnwick Castle being promoted; people need and should have access to travel to places like this, but cleaner and greener public transport access opens the option to more people to visit towns such as Alnwick without many of the drawbacks of visiting by car.

Tourism by train has virtually no downsides; the tourists come, but only bringing footfall, not road traffic. They contribute to businesses, but not congestion.

Chronicle article outlining Alnwick Castle being in the Trainsplit Top 5

The Trainsplit blog goes even further, with four reasons why rail access to these film locations possibly being the ‘best’ way to visit:

Scenic Journeys
Convenience and Comfort
Eco-friendly travel
Time to plan and unwind

On all of these, a trip to Alnmouth (for Alnwick) can fit the bill; the East Coast Main Line (ECML) in Northumberland is a beautiful stretch of railway by any measure, the train is a comfortable way to travel long distances, and has the convenience factor of no car to park. There is the potential to do the vast majority of the trip by electric train, resulting in much lower emissions than driving, and on a train, you can sit back and relax, far better than you can in your own car.

Good stuff, but room for improvement?

As the extract below from the Trainsplit website describes ‘the castle is a short bus ride from Alnmouth train station’. However, many locals have raised that the bus links to/from Alnwick to Alnmouth Station just aren’t good enough. However, one of the campaigns I am putting forward as part of the wider Northumberland Coast Loop campaign seeks to make that short bus trip better!

I have recently launched a petition to ‘Start a dedicated ‘Bus Meets Train’ shuttle bus between Alnwick, Alnmouth Station & Amble‘, which is aiming to massively improve the connection between the town of Alnwick (home to Alnwick Castle, but also many other major attractions), as well as Amble (a key town on the Northumberland Coast). At the time of writing this, it has attracted 227 signatures since it’s launch on the 16th February 2025 (eight days ago).

The advantage of dedicated buses on this short route would be the ability to better serve the ‘station to town’ market for both tourists coming into Alnwick for a day trip or longer stay, but also for residents to have better access to the railway station for onward travel.

With hundreds of thousands of rail users at Alnmouth annually, and similar figures at attractions like Alnwick Castle (350,000 per year from the Northumberland Estates website), a simple, dedicated bus service linking both is almost certainly a success waiting to happen, cutting down on heavy road traffic, whilst bringing tourists right into the heart of Alnwick, Warkworth and Amble.

If you’d like to support a better bus connection, please sign the petition above!

Wider Northumberland Coast access by Rail and Buses needs improvements.

While Alnwick Castle is in fairly easy reach by rail, many places in Northumberland are poorly served by comparison, for example the beautiful castle at Bamburgh is very poorly connected by public transport, despite the ECML running quite close by, with Chathill Station well placed to serve a good number of visitors to Bamburgh, if it had a decent daily service pattern.

Unfortunately for Chathill station, it is one of many in Northumberland that has a very poor rail service, only seeing two trains in each direction per day from Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday services at all.

This campaign is not alone in wanting to see an improved service, with organisations such as Railfuture (of which this campaign has recently joined as a member), campaigning for an improved local service between Newcastle and Berwick, which like the above petition for better bus links to & from Alnmouth Station, would benefit both locals and tourists alike.

Going a step further, there are more attractions along the southern part of the Northumberland Coast that would be better served by the Northumberland Line stations between Bedlington and Newcastle; examples include the National Trust’s Seaton Delaval Hall (around two miles from Seaton Delaval station)

It would be great to see a similar ‘tea and train‘ offer as that from Lapworth Station in Warwickshire, which allows visitors to Baddessley Clinton and Packwood House arriving by train and short walk to enjoy a free hot drink for taking the sustainable way to reach these site, to be implemented at Seaton Delaval Hall.

Similarly, other attractions would include Blyth Battery, a 1.5 mile walk from soon to open Newsham Station (due to open mid-March 2025), again not an unreasonable distance to walk, but also clearly an ideal train + bus option too.

The Northumberland Coast Loop is a proposal for a new rail service running the entire length of the Northumberland Coast from Berwick, through Alnmouth (for Alnwick) then direct to Newsham, through Seaton Delaval to then reach Newcastle.

This service would give easier access to the whole Northumberland Coast by running the whole length of it, from Berwick on the Scottish Border, down to the River Tyne at Newcastle, but as much as possible hugging the coast throughout.

This would likely be part of a longer distance Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth route, the benefit of this route in having two major tourist cities at each end, with a multitide of attractions between would clearly make this stretch of coast either side of the Scottish Border far easier to access by public transport.

If you’d like to give your support to the Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth rail service, please sign our petition, which at time of writing stands at 119 signatures.

If you’d like to support me via Ko-fi, please feel welcome to!

https://ko-fi.com/northumberlandcoastloop

Two Weeks Until Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington on ‘The Rambler’ and an Overlooked Option for Expansion of the Northumberland Line?

In the late evening of 8th March 2025, a pair of Class 37’s (most likely 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’ and an as yet unidentified classmate) will haul the final leg of SRPS operated ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ from Newcastle back to Edinburgh via the Northumberland Line.

This railtour will pass through Manors, then the under construction Northumberland Park, before swinging north towards Seaton Delaval, the only station as yet open on this stretch of the Northumberland Line. Next up is Newsham, which will probably open just days after the passage of the Rambler, then it is through the less complete stations of Blyth Bebside and Bedlington, before reaching Bedlington Junction, and taking the Hepscott Line westwards.

Passing alongside Barrington Road, the railtour will pass the sites of Choppington and Hepscott stations, long since demolished, eventually reaching Hepscott Junction and taking the 1970’s built and 1980 opened Morpeth North Curve, skirting the edge of Coopies Lane Industrial Estate, before rejoining the East Coast Main Line at Morpeth North Junction.

From there, it’ll pass Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Widdrington, Alnmouth (for Alnwick) [my local station], Chathill and then Berwick Upon Tweed, then cross over the border at Marshall Meadows and continue up to Edinburgh, then Linlithgow before heading back to base on the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway presumably.

An Overlooked Option?

With our recent post about the proposed Northumberland Line extension to Newbiggin by the Sea, has the route described above perhaps been overlooked as an option for expansion?

The route diagram for the Northumberland Coast Loop, with ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ following it exactly in just two weeks from today.

As can be seen above, The Rambler follows the same route on it’s return trip to Edinburgh, showing that the line is complete and available to use almost immediately to provide a connection from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington and Pegswood, and journey times could potentially smash those of road travel from Blyth to Edinburgh too.

With Blackstone putting £10billion into a data centre campus at Cambois, it is likely to drive other major investments into the Blyth Valley, alongside the £90m ‘Energising Blyth’ programme already well underway; so this rail link to Edinburgh, which would build upon the near £300m investment into the Northumberland Line would surely sit well with those proposals?

Morpeth benefits heavily from a wide range of services calling at the station, but is a town just a fraction of the size of Blyth, with population of 14,419 compared to 39,731 respectively as of the 2021 Census, meaning Morpeth is just over ⅓ the size of Blyth. Why not serve Blyth with a similar range of services to rebalance the two towns’ rail connectivity since the route to enable it exists?

In many ways, there are parallels with better utilisation of the Stillington Line to better connect Teesside and Tyneside and connections beyond with the proposal here to use the Hepscott Line to give better connections between southeast Northumberland and North Tyneside to the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh; both routes are freight only at present, and used occasionally by railtours, but could be put to work regularly for scheduled passenger trains and bring great improvements to journey times and connectivity.

If you agree, please sign my petition, that is performing strongly so far!

Thanks, RH.

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.

Northumberland Line to Newbiggin By The Sea

A welcome announcement late yesterday evening by The Chronicle was for an expansion of the Northumberland Line beyond Ashington to Newbiggin By The Sea, making use mostly of existing track (currently used to serve Lynemouth Power Station beyond the newly reopened station at Ashington), with presumably a new junction built near Woodhorn Museum, and a short section of track needing to be built toward the town.

This would go a long way to recreating the full extent of the former ‘Newbiggin Branch’ from Bedlington to Newbiggin through Ashington.

For the Northumberland Coast Loop, this would make the Newbiggin Branch a multi-station branchline leading off the proposed Newcastle to Berwick & Edinburgh via Bedlington through route, with interchange between services serving the Newbiggin Branch stations happening at either Bedlington or at Blyth Bebside.

Blackstone and other Blyth Valley/North Tyneside businesses to benefit from the N.C.L?

The above article makes clear link between payments made from Blackstone, developers behind the potentially £10billion (yes, BILLION), data centre campus at Cambois, to Northumberland County Council (NCC), and the development of the line towards Newbiggin, a good use of the funds to promote better transport links within Northumberland and particularly to this former mining and seaside town.

With such a large investment being made into Cambois, could some of the Blackstone funds also be spent on developing the Northumberland Coast Loop route?

Route map of the Northumberland Coast Loop Route between Newcastle and Berwick Upon Tweed, with links south beyond Newcastle or north beyond Berwick easily possible.

Estimated Journey Times for the Northumberland Coast Loop, with a key journey time of 1hr 45mins from Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh.

This route could allow stations at Bedlington, but especially Blyth Bebside to offer much improved connections to Edinburgh and the wiser Scottish Central belt, a very important economic area in it’s own right, and for a major international business like Blackstone, such links would likely hugely improve the value of a site such as Cambois, as well as benefitting other businesses, large or small operating in and around the Blyth Valley.

This route would substantially reduce journey times, making rail a far faster option than driving (beating the journey time by perhaps an hour or more).

The petition for Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside rail services is gaining a good head of steam, and builds upon the previous one with 742 signatures; let’s hope that NCC might also consider investigating the Northumberland Coast Loop, and using some of the Blackstone funding to do so?

Newsham Station Opening Announcement

Today, Friday 21st also marks an announcement on the opening of Newsham station on the Northumberland Line during March 2025 (the precise date as yet unspecified), and that over 110,000 passengers have been carried since the line opened, with just two stations on December 15th 2024.

Northumberland County Council update on the Northumberland Line and Newsham Station

This is a welcome step forward in the continuing opening up of the Northumberland Line, Newsham being opened means that half of the stations on the route will be completed, with Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, and Northumberland Park to come later in 2025.

This figure is based on the success of effectively a shuttle service between Ashington and Newcastle, but like all railway stations, the benefits of having a station are multiplied by having a wider range of services calling there,

Morpeth is a great example of this, where direct services link this small station, sited within a fairly small market town, which has only a fraction of the population of Blyth, to places as diverse as London, Edinburgh, Penzance, York, Aberdeen and many more; why can’t Blyth, a far larger industrial town, home to many major businesses and a thriving port town have a similar range of services now it has had the investment made into the Northumberland Line?

The stations are being built and nearing completion, the line of route already exists, all it needs is the services to run via the Northumberland Coast Loop…

…let’s hope that NCC and others take the idea forwards!

If you haven’t already, please sign the current petition for Newcastle – Edinburgh via Blyth rail services.

If you’d like to consider supporting me with this campaign, please do so via my Ko-fi.

News on the proposed Newcastle and Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park Rail Service 20.2.25

Newcastle to Edinburgh via the N.C.L. Petition

Last week on Thursday 13th February, I launched a new change.org petition; ‘Start a Newcastle – Edinburgh Rail Service via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park‘.

To date, just one week in, this has achieved a fantastic 103 signatures, thank you to all who have already done so!

It’ll remain open until the first scheduled train runs, so if you haven’t already signed it, please do so to show your support, preferably as soon as possible ahead of the 2025 local elections in Northumberland in May: please ask your local candidate to support the Northumberland Coast Loop!

The N.C.L. proposal has gained support from NCC (positive response to our last petition from Councillor H.G.H. Sanderson, current Leader of Northumberland County Council), as well as the office of Ian Lavery, MP for Blyth and Ashington, so it is certainly on the radar for both Northumberland County Council and the local MP for the ‘loop’ section between the proposed station at Choppington, on the Hepscott Line, and Newsham Station on the Northumberland Line, hopefully the next station to open in the coming weeks.

The petition is to help maintain momentum with the proposal for a rail service via Blyth, and the greater the support the more action our County Councillors and MP’s can take to see it enacted.

Alnwick – Alnmouth – Amble ‘Bus Meets Train’ Petition

There have long been suggestions made for a dedicated bus connection between the town of Alnwick and Alnmouth railway station; and a post on the Alnwick Matters Facebook Group prompted me to launch a petition for such a service.

This is based upon frequently unreliable Arriva services that connect the town of Alnwick to Alnmouth station, and drive a reliance on lifts, taxis, or driving to the station rather than taking the trip via public transport.

Alnwick – Alnmouth – Amble (& Druridge Bay)

While it was an Alnwick to Alnmouth Station trip that was the source of issues; it is reasonable to assume similar problems exist in nearby Amble, which is served by the same bus routes, so by sharing the same problem, the same solution exists.

Not only that, but there is a lot of traffic between both towns on a regular basis which this route would also serve. Slightly beyond Amble is Druridge Bay, a very popular destination on the spectacular Northumberland Coast, so it is reasonable that, especially during the summer months, that the service would be extended to serve Druridge Bay too, alleviating the need to drive to reach it as it is an area relatively poorly served by buses presently.

As a dedicated service, and probably one running year round, I would propose a dedicated branding, which could be along the lines of ‘Castles and Coast Connector‘, since this route would link both Alnwick & Warkworth Castles, as well as the Northumberland Coast from Hipsburn to Amble/Druridge Bay.

Strong response

Having only been launched today (16th February), the response to the petition has been very strong, with 91 signatures currently.

Outline of the case for the ‘Castles and Coast Connector’

Starting with Alnmouth Station itself, it is one of the best used on this stretch of line, used by, in 2023/24 a total of 353,000 passengers (of which I’m one on a semi-regular basis); Alnwick could arguably claim to be the leaded Northumberland town for tourism, being home to Alnwick Castle (itself seeing approximately 350,000 visitors per year according to a Northumberland Estates webpage (see below), as well as The Alnwick Garden and Lilidorei, Barter Books, Bailiffgate Museum and many other smaller attractions within Alnwick, and nearby drawing in hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.

The exact proportion who use the railway to travel to Alnmouth and then access these places is unknown, but it is certainly not uncommon, having personally offered visitors to Alnwick advice on rail connections on a number of occasions. I have personally noted that the deficient link is often getting to/from the station and I’ve occasionally needed to help people to arrange a taxi one more than once to ensure they caught their train.

Amble is a similarly bustling town during the season, and whilst not having the major tourist attractions of Alnwick, it does have excellent beaches, and is a popular place for a day out by the sea, with parking often difficult to find.

Warkworth is a village sited between Amble and Alnmouth, and is dominated by Warkworth Castle, open to visitors as part of English Heritage, and again is thriving village that is always filled with people, and would similarly benefit from a dedicated bus linking it to Alnmouth station.

21 Days To Go: Travelling By Rail Along The Northumberland Coast Loop From Newcastle To Edinburgh via Bedlington!

It is now just three weeks until ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ operated by the SRPS is due to run (8th March 2025), with the section from Newcastle to Edinburgh, going via Bedlington being of particular interest here, as it will be an at present rare opportunity to travel the proposed Northumberland Coast Loop route on a single train.

One of the locomotives due to haul The Seven Counties Rambler in just three weeks time.

In essence, it mostly uses existing passenger routes, departing Newcastle, it takes the recently reopened Northumberland Line as far as Bedlington; this route already proving highly popular with at least 50,000 users of the Northumberland Line in it’s first month alone.

From Bedlington, it’ll take the left hand route at Bedlington Junction and head west towards Hepscott rather than right and to the north to reach Ashington as the Northumberland Line trains do.

I have actually travelled over the Bedlington – Hepscott section last year, on the UK Railtours’ ‘Blyth and Tyne Mini Tour’ on 8th June 2024, which I boarded at Newcastle, then via Morpeth reached Bedlington sidings, before returning to Newcastle (it had originally been planned as a circular going Newcastle – Bedlington – Morpeth – Newcastle, but had to be altered due to late running works on the Northumberland Line).

I took an ‘out the window’ video of the return trip from Bedlington to Morpeth via Hepscott. At about 8mins in, Hepscott Junction is reached, and you can see the Morpeth North Curve diverging off towards Morpeth North Junction, which rejoins the East Coast Main Line heading north towards Pegswood, Berwick and onto Edinburgh.

The Rambler, on 8th March 2025, will take this latter route opened as recently as 1980, and mostly used by railfreight such as the North Blyth – Fort William ‘Alcan’ trains which, from Bedlington sidings take this route several times per week, but has been fairly rarely used for passenger trains; mainly railtours similar to this one, or occasional diverted trains such as HST’s.

With the opening of the new stations on the Northumberland Line, it offers an opportunity for this route to become a regular one used everyday for passenger trains rather than ‘rare track’ used only by railfreight, railtours, or emergency diversions.

Below is an approximate timetable for N.C.L. trains, showing the overall Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park journey time, then Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh and Northumberland Park to Edinburgh respectively.

This route could offer a direct service from Northumberland Park and Blyth Bebside to Edinburgh, meaning no change of train at either Newcastle or Morpeth, making it not only far more convenient, but also faster, and thus more competitive with other modes of travel such as by car.

For diversions, using the route regularly is also a benefit, as train crews would be trained to drive along it as part of normal duties (train drivers need to have ‘route knowledge’, knowing the route well to be able to safely handle trains along the track, so driving it regularly helps to maintain this knowledge).

It would be my suggestion that all Newcastle to Edinburgh train crews (Drivers and relevant on-board staff) should be trained and kept up to date with this route via Bedlington in addition to the main route via Cramlington station. That would mean that if diversions are needed, and trains are capable of travelling along the unwired section from Morpeth North to Benton Junction (itself a good candidate for electrification which would obviate this issue), then organising this change could be rapidly implemented.

Plessey Viaduct in October 2023 showed that this route could be important as a diversionary route had the damage to the viaduct been more significant, or if a similar issue was to arise in the future.

From the feedback I’ve received both online and in-person, the proposal to use this route to provide a Newcastle – Edinburgh via Bedlington rail service is a popular one, and has resulted in me launching a new petition, which at time of writing has received 32 signatures in under 48 hours, and a meeting earlier this week with staff from the office of Ian Lavery MP also saw the route well receieved as a proposal.

If you can, please sign the petition to give your support, and if you live in the constituencies of North Northumberland (David Smith MP), Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery MP), and Cramlington and Killingworth (Emma Foody MP), then please send them an email/letter of support for the Northumberland Coast Loop proposal if you can.

Thanks, RH.

Lovin’ The Loop!

We’ve started new petition, one part of the campaign for a Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington Rail Service (The Northumberland Coast Loop).

A mere 24hrs later on Valentines Day 2025, this petition has already gained 25 signatures, a very strong start as petitions like this go, and long may it continue!

Signing the petition will help show how much demand for this route exists, so if you’d like to see it developed, please sign it and share it with friends, family, work colleagues and anyone else who might be interested!

N.C.L. Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park Petition Poster (download link below).

If you’d like to print a physical poster, please download the PDF below and display it in your window or on a noticeboard if you’d like to. If you do print one off, please contact us via social media with a photo of your poster and we can share it on our Facebook page/Twitter!

petition-flyer-a Download

I’m aiming to visit businesses along the route as and when I can to try and place more posters too. If you’d like to support me, please take a look at my Ko-fi page if you’d be interested in making a donation?

This petition will remain open until services via the route begin, but the more who sign it today, the sooner the route could start; as we have long said, the route already is there, demonstrated by The Seven Counties Rambler, operated by the SRPS due to run over the route on 8th March 2025, so why not use it routinely to give southeast Northumberland and North Tyneside direct links to the north?