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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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?
A recent article in The Chronicle is talking about both Newcastle and Durham Universities moving into the new Energy Central Institute, being built on the site of the former Keel Row shopping centre, and offering courses for students upto PHD level, and ‘provide life-long learning for Blyth residents and those from further afield‘
It’s yet another example of how Blyth, Northumberland, is changing for the better, with £95m of investment as part of the Energising Blyth Programme, bringing new jobs in green energy industries, and learning opportunities in conjunction with Newcastle and Durham Universities as above.
Where could the Northumberland Coast Loop fit into these developments?
Below is a screenshot taken from the ‘Energising Blyth’ webpage on the Northumberland County Council website, and the most relevant of the bullet points is the bottom on this screenshot, which reads:
‘Improve walking and cycling routes and connections to public transport networks, making it easier to travel to and from Blyth.‘
The Northumberland Coast Loop could be a major part of the public transport network serving Blyth, giving rapid and clean connections to North Northumberland and Scotland by running onto the ECML via Hepscott; and if part of a longer route running beyond Newcastle Upon Tyne, could also offer connections to other towns and cities on the Durham Coast such as Sunderland or Teesside, down the ECML towards Durham, York, and beyond, or along the Tyne Valley towards Carlisle.
Screenshot from the NCC ‘Energising Blyth‘ webpageScreenshot of the map from the NCC Energising Blyth webpage, showing Blyth Bebside Station as a key link to places along the Blyth Estuary and into the Town Centre.
East Linton Station Success; Blyth Bebside Could Be Boosted By The N.C.L?
A recent article in the East Lothian Courier, in December 2024 reported on the success of East Linton station, just over the border in Scotland, a year on since the station re-opened in December 2023, with ‘…the new station opened…linking it [East Linton] with Edinburgh, Newcastle and beyond.’
In total, 87,000 people used East Linton station in it’s first year; a fantastic figure for a fairly rural station in the Scottish Borders; but has a good level of service, and proves the old adage of ‘build it, and they will come’.
‘East Linton has 10 services north and 11 services south each day.’ From Allison Gosgrove, quoted in the above East Lothian Courier article.
While towns such as Blyth are still awaiting connection to the newly opened Northumberland Line, the Northumberland Line itself has had 50,000 users in it’s first month, far exceeding the 20,000 users of East Linton in it’s first three months. This is partially due to the Northumberland Line serving a much more urban area, with a greater population providing more potential passengers.
Same Service (Or Better) For Blyth Bebside?
With such strong figures for a small Scottish border town, the case for serving the significantly larger industrial town of Blyth with a similar service pattern surely speaks for itself?
It is a near certainty that a northbound rail service from Blyth Bebside matching that of East Linton (10 per day) would prove highly popular, especially given that Blyth Bebside would not only serve the town of Blyth, but also the large local communities surrounding Blyth.
Blyth Bebside station is within easy travelling distance, being just a few stops along the Northumberland Line from stations such as Ashington, avoiding travelling the wrong direction all the way to Newcastle to then head north again, near a major bus route into Blyth with good services already passing close by to the station, easy access for drivers by being just off the A189 Spine Road, and even being well connected by cycleways and footpaths.
While running additional trains on the Northumberland Line and East Coast Main Line (ECML) will likely have challenges due to limited surplus capacity; the fact that such services are proving so popular means that investment in these routes can be well justified, the Northumberland Line is far exceeding expectations, despite only being partially opened as of today (13.2.25).
With the track in place for the Northumberland Coast Loop route from Newcastle to Edinburgh via Blyth, it surely makes sense to use this route as soon as possible?
Below are some great photos of the building of Morpeth North Curve and wider Blyth and Tyne alterations made in late 1970’s/early 1980’s when the Tyne and Wear Metro was under construction, all photos courtesy of Phil Kirkland, railway engineer who was involved the works to the line, and taking a great photographic record of this relatively little known section of line.
Brief History
Construction of the Morpeth North Curve began in the late 1970’s, and was completed in mid-1980, for the first time allowing trains to reach Bedlington from North Northumberland/Scotland without requiring reversal.
This link was, however, intended to be built in 1882, as shown by C.R. Warn (1976 p. 35/36) Main Line Railways of Northumberland, but was only opened 98 years later.
In my own view, whilst this new curve it has been well used over the years by railfreight and diversions, I don’t think it’s full potential has been realised yet, and is something I think should change.
In an alternative world, stations on the B&T like Bedlington, Bebside, Newsham etc remained open for local passenger trains, there may well have been a push by locals to get direct long-distance services over this route back then. Promotional videos like Ship Shape in 1986 by Port of Blyth hint that better rail services to Blyth would have been desirable at the very least.
With the Northumberland Line well underway, correcting the possibly mistaken closure of the stations in 1964, should we use this 1980 built link more fully in 2025?
Newly built Morpeth North Curve, Class 37 heading north onto ECML.North end of Morpeth North Junction on the ECML, with the route to Bedlington diverging off to the left.Morpeth North Curve EarthworksLooking towards Morpeth North JunctionMorpeth North CurveMorpeth North CurveBridge foundations on Morpeth North CurveMorpeth North CurveA196 Bridge on the Morpeth North Curve, looking towards Bedlington (indicated by public footpath which is west of the bridge)A196 Bridge on the Morpeth North Curve, looking towards Morpeth North JunctionA196 bridge on Morpeth North Curve, looking towards Morpeth North JunctionClass 37’s on newly singled line near Benton Junction, heading towards Newcastle.Class 37 on coal between present day Northumberland Park and Benton Junction, heading towards Blyth. Class 37 on coal between Benton Junction and Northumberland Park, heading towards Blyth. HST Diversion over the Blyth and Tyne, heading towards Blyth.Diverted HST over the Blyth and Tyne, bound for Pegswood via Blyth.Diverted HST over the Northumberland Coast Loop route, bound for Pegswood via Blyth.
The running of HST’s over the Blyth and Tyne on numerous diversions after 1980
Early days of Tyne and Wear Metro
Thanks to Phil again for sharing these fantastic photo’s, and if anyone else would like to share theirs, please get in touch!
Earlier today, I attended a meeting with Mark and Caroline at Ian Lavery MP’s office in Esther Court, Ashington, Northumberland to discuss the Northumberland Coast Loop proposal for a rail service between Newcastle and Berwick via Bedlington.
The feedback received was very positive, with discussion of the route, potential services that could run along it, and what the next steps may be beyond this initial meeting.
I am very grateful that the team invited me along to their office to discuss this proposal, and for making time to discuss this new passenger rail route with them.
In just four weeks time, the SRPS railtour ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’ is due along the proposed route of the Northumberland Coast Loop when it takes in it’s final leg from Newcastle Upon Tyne back to Linlithgow via Bedlington and Edinburgh.
It is quite an epic railtour, taking in some fabulous scenery en-route such as Ribblehead, Shap, and the Tyne Valley; you can view the full tour itinerary on the SRPS website here.
This leg of the much longer tour is due to be handled by a pair of Class 37’s, one of which is due to be 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’, with a 600 tonne train of heritage carriages in tow, it should look (and sound) quite canny!
The detailed timings for this tour were released earlier this week on RTT, so whilst it’ll be quite dark, it might still offer an opportunity to see it, or take night photos/video at stations along the route, one of which could be the then newly opened Newsham station, which hopefully will be opened to passengers in February, just ahead of this railtour passing through.
Proof of Potential Regular Passenger Use
Blyth to Berwick in 60mins or less?
This railtour proves the potential of this route to offer a direct connection from the four new stations opened/opening in South East Northumberland (Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, Newsham, and Seaton Delaval) and Northumberland Park, which just over the border in North Tyneside to stations in North Northumberland and Scotland, rather than making a connection via Newcastle Central Station.
The advantages a direct service to/from North Northumberland and Scotland via Bedlington and Pegswood is to reduce journey times and make travel within Northumberland more convenient, compared to alternatives of changing train at either Newcastle or at Morpeth.
In the case of Morpeth, proposals centre around extending the current Newcastle to Morpeth service as far as Bedlington. Whilst this is a welcome addition to the rail network, a trip from a station such as Newsham to Berwick via Morpeth would require two changes of train, first at Bedlington and again at Morpeth.
By comparison, the above railtour illustrates that a direct route is both possible, and advantageous by offering a direct route, bearing in mind that this is a 600t+ train limited to 75mph, Newsham to Berwick is timetabled to take just over an hour; a modern train, capable of 100mph or even 125mph (used daily on the ECML) could cut this journey time significantly, in the region of 55mins should be possible based on existing timetables, and possibly further enhanced with investment into the route.
This would cut around 30minutes from the current fastest trip time from Blyth to Berwick by public transport, which involves a bus connection from Blyth to Morpeth, and taking a train from Morpeth to Berwick, since a direct rail route exists, so why not use it for direct services?
News Next Week
I’ve been invited to a meeting on Tuesday 10th February with regards to the Northumberland Coast Loop, so hopefully next week there should be some more news of progress on the campaign.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, and helps to cover the costs of the campaign such as running this website, or travelling to meetings such as the one above.
There is also an exclusive post in the works for contributors!
A quick check of realtimetrains.com has revealed the timings of the SRPS Railtour ‘The Seven Counties Rambler’, due over the Northumberland Line/Hepscott Line as working 1Z34, the 17:38 Carlisle to Linlithgow.
This will be hauled, as far as is known so far by a pair of Class 37 locomotives, one of which is due to be 37403 ‘Isle of Mull’. This is subject to availability on the day.
Train details from RTTExpected Timetable from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Berwick Upon Tweed
The role of this campaign is to advocate for this route being ran routinely, and behind the scenes progress on this is hopefully being made, more news hopefully next week!
If the route was implemented as a longer term, ordinary route, the above timings are judged to be more reflective of the actual running times compared to the railtour shown above; which is a heavy railtour train (600 tonnes trailing load) of heritage rolling stock, hauled by heritage diesels (Class 37 locomotives).
Worked by modern, lighter multiple units, the same route could be substantially faster, as trains could run at higher speeds than 75mph on many sections (particularly the ECML where 100mph+ is quite common), and would benefit from faster acceleration and braking capability too.
Please click here to view the Ko-fi poll for the Northumberland Coast Loop’s proposal for Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park to have direct services to Edinburgh.
Please can only residents of South East Northumberland/North Tyneside take part, and the poll will run for 30 days from today (2nd February 2025).
The Northumberland Coast Loop 