Timeline of the Northumberland Coast Loop Rail Campaign

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

1990 to 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.

The ‘Lightbulb Moment’

March 2017: The ‘Bound for Craigy’ Railtour by the Branchline Society runs from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington and Pegswood on the 18th March 2017.

‘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.

February 2021: First petition started for an enhanced local rail service on the ECML between Newcastle and Berwick.

May 2021: The Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) for the now ‘Northumberland Line’ is submitted to the UK Department for Transport.

November 2021: 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.

October 2023: The first petition for the ‘Northumberland Loop’ is launched on change.org.

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.

September 2024: The first Northumberland Loop petition is published in the Northumberland Gazette.

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.

Following a popular suggestion, a second petition was started for a Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington Rail Service, which at time of writing (16.3.25) has 191 signatures.

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.

Response to David Smith MP, North Northumberland on A1 Junction Improvements, BUT is improving and upgrading ECML the real solution?

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.

Groups such as Railfuture North East have long campaigned for improved rail services in Northumberland, with proven solutions to meet demand for travel such as an hourly rail service using electric trains being found to be both possible AND ecomomically viable in a 2019 report by SYSTRA.

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.

A previous petition gained 742 supporters for this route, and a new one for starting a Newcastle, Blyth and Edinburgh rail service is currently at 178 signatures.

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.

As a contrast, the petition by the former Conservative MP for Berwick, Anne-Marie Trevelyan to dual the A1 to Scotland only gained 624 signatures, the rail service is therefore potentially far more popular and has greater backing than dualling the road.

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.

Key changes needed for the ECML

Double the capacity of the ECML in Northumberland

In an address to the Permanent Way Institute on the 20th February 2025, rail engineer Gareth Dennis proposes a nationwide doubling of passenger and freight capacity on the rail network as a solution to meeting the challenges Britain, and Northumberland face in the future.

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.

Thanks, RH.

The Seven Counties Rambler in Retrospect and N.C.L. Target 2030

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.

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!

If you’d like to support this happening, please sign the petition, and if you’d like to help me out, please feel free to drop a donation in via the campaigns Ko-fi page.

Thanks, RH.

48hrs until The Seven Counties Rambler heads from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Bedlington (aka the Morpeth Avoiding Line)

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.

If you agree that this service should be introduced (potentially as a trial given the route exists already), then please sign the Change.org petition here: https://chng.it/J8DxHqpWdf

Thanks, RH.

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.