The Northumberland Coast Loop

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?

Leading Universities Moving Into Blyth & East Linton Station Success: A Case Study for Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park on the N.C.L.

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‘ webpage

Screenshot 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?

With growing support for the route, I have launched a new petition here.

Morpeth North Curve Under Construction

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.

Bridge foundations on Morpeth North Curve

A196 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 Junction

A196 bridge on Morpeth North Curve, looking towards Morpeth North Junction

Class 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

Thanks to Phil again for sharing these fantastic photo’s, and if anyone else would like to share theirs, please get in touch!

Thanks, RH.

N.C.L. Meeting in Ashington 11.2.25

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.

Please support me via Ko-fi!

Thanks again to Mark and Caroline for their time and their generous hospitality today, kind regards, RH.