How passenger rail returned to south east Northumberland after 60 years in 2024

A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.
A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.
This month finally saw the long-awaited return of passenger rail service to South East Northumberland for the first time since the days of the Beatles.

Trains began running on the Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle on Sunday, December 15. It has been heralded as a significant success despite some major setbacks along the way

At this stage, just two of the line’s six stations are open to passengers – Ashington and Seaton Delaval. One more – Newsham in Blyth – is set to open early next year, while the other three –  Blyth Bebside, Northumberland Park and Bedlington  – will open at unspecified dates through the year.

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A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.
A Northern service on the Northumberland Line.

The project has faced several delays variously blamed on engineering challenges, poor weather and even the discovery of an unexploded bomb. This has contributed to an increased cost of £298.5 million – £130 million more than the original bid.

We’ve rounded up all the major milestones on the long journey to return the railway back to the area.

1800s – The Blyth and Tyneside Railway was incorporated in 1953, unifying several small independent railways constructed to transport coal. Passenger services had operated since the 1840s, with traffic expanding significantly from the 1860s. The railway had reached Ashington and Newbiggin by 1872.

1964 – Passenger services were withdrawn from the network as part of the now notorious Beeching cuts. Named after Dr Richard Beeching, the chairman of the British Railways Board at the time, the cuts saw thousands of stations and miles of track closed, along with the loss of tens of thousands of British Rail jobs.

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The line continued to carry freight traffic, although this declined as the area’s collieries closed. By 2022, there were around five freight services operating a day on the line, providing the biomass power station at Lynemouth with fuel from the Port of Tyne.

1990s – Proposals to reintroduce passenger services to at least part of the former Blyth and Tyneside Railway gathered pace in the 90s. The Railway Development Society, renamed Railfuture in 2000, endorsed the proposal in 1998 while former Labour MP for Wansbeck Denis Murphy expressed support in the House of Commons the following year.

2000s – The South East Northumberland Rail User Group began a campaign to reopen the line in March 2005. In an effort to draw attention to the campaign, they charted a train to run three return trips in June 2008.

The first carried local politicians and other key stakeholders, while the other carried fare-paying passengers.

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In 2009, a £34 million proposal to restore services to the north-eastern part of the Blyth and Tyneside Railway was published. This would have included reopening the stations at Seaton Delaval, Bedlington, Newsham and Ashington.

2010 – By this point, Liberal Democrat-led Northumberland County Council was listing the scheme as its top transport priority. The line was dubbed the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Line.

2013 – The county council, now helmed by Labour, commissioned Network Rail to complete a Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) study to examine the best options for the scheme, with the results received in 2014.

2015 – The council commissioned a more detailed GRIP 2 study at a cost of £850,000. The study was received in 2016, and confirmed the reintroduction of a frequent, seven-day a week passenger service between Newcastle ands Ashington was feasible.

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It suggested economic benefits of more than £70 million could be provided, with an estimaed 380,000 people using the line each year by 2034. The scheme had an estimated cost of £191 million, and would have reopened stations at Northumberland Park, Seghill or Seaton Delaval, Newsham, Blyth Park and Ride, Ashington and Woodhorn for the Woodhorn Colliery Museum and the Northumberland Archives.

2017 – There was a further change of leadership at County Hall, with the Conservatives taking office following local elections in May. Despite the change in political leadership, plans for the reintroduction of passenger services remained on track.

The line was identified as a possible candidate for the reintroduction of passenger services by the Department for Transport’s (DfT) 2017 report, A Strategic Vision for Rail. A further GRIP study was commissioned the same month.

2019 – In February, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling threw his support behind plans to bring back the service. The Secretary of State travelled on a proposed section of the Line along with senior councillors.

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The same month, county councillors signed off on approximately £3.46m of spending to develop the next steps, with the aim of submitting an outline business case and proposal for the detailed design by the end of the year.

The project was officially renamed the Northumberland Line, prompting fears from Labour that the line would never reach Blyth, never mind Ashington – although these fears were dismissed by Tory leaders.

A public consultation was launched in September, with initial reaction positive.

2020 – In April, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps promised a “year of action” on railways with the North at the “heart” of improvements. In July, council leaders said the work could start “in a matter of months”.

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Previous plans for a phased construction were revealed to have been dropped in September, with the North East Joint Transport committee told the new plan was for the entire scheme to be delivered in a single phase.

Work to explore ground conditions began in October, involving  drilling to gather soil and rock samples in order to test the ground and find out whether there had been any mine workings beneath the planned route.

A fresh consultation was launched in November, with events held online due to the coronavirus lockdown.

2021 – Mr Shapps announced a £34 million funding boost to progress the scheme in January. The money was used to pay for preparatory work including land acquisition, detailed design work and early site works. Later that same month, SENRUG celebrated the success of their 16-year campaign to bring the railway back into use.

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By June, a major milestone was completed after a section of track was renewed at Newsham – the first physical piece of work on the project to be completed. In August, construction company Morgan Sindall Infrastructure was appointed as the primary contractor for the line’s six stations.

Plans for Ashington’s station were approved by Northumberland County Council in September, with those at Bedlington and Seaton Delaval approved in November.

A public inquiry began in November to rule on a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) needed to authorise track works.

2022 – The Blyth Bebside railway station was approved in January, with the Newsham Station approved in March. In June, the TWAO order was granted for the scheme to go ahead, with an opening date of 2023 targeted.

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However, there was a setback in June when preparations for the line uncovered what was believed to be ancient remains dating of a farmstead dating back to the Iron Age were discovered, necessitating a full archaeological dig.

2023 – The return of the railway was delayed until summer 2024. At the time of the announcement in March, no reason was given, but during a visit to Newsham later that month Transport Secretary Mark Harper blamed the archaeological investigation as well as the discovery of an unexploded bomb for the delay.

Council leader Glen Sanderson also revealed that the “Iron Age” roundhouse actually turned out to be from 1957. In March, August 2024 was revealed as the new target for the opening of the line.

Further issues arose in April when it was revealed that inflation had caused the cost of the road bridge at Newsham to increase by more than £19 million. However, by August construction bosses said work on the track was “90% complete”.

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In November, the bridge at Newsham was installed in what was described as a “major step” for the project. However, by December Coun Sanderson warned that it was “too early to say” when the project would open – just ten days after the council said the said the project remained on track to open in summer 2024.

The council confirmed the delay the following week, with no new date put forward.

2024 – The council said the Northumberland Line would open in the summer. However, only three of the stations – Ashington, Seaton Delval and Newsham – would open at that time, with the other three delayed by a further six months. There was a backlash from councillors representing the affected areas, with one describing it as a “kick in the teeth”.

In February, Rail Minister Hiw Merriman visited Newsham and issued a plea for patience to residents.

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Ticketing information was revealed over the following months, including the news off-peak single fares would cost less than £3 and would integrate with the Tyne and Wear Metro Pop Card.

In June, the council’s deputy leader Coun Richard Wearmouth said the line could be extended to the likes of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea thanks to a £110 million investment fund provided by US firm Blackstone as part of the deal to bring an AI datacentre campus to the county.

In July, another major milestone was reached as the brand new Newsham road bridge opened to traffic.

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However, in August the line was delayed once more until December. In addition, the cost of the project was revealed to have spiralled to just under £300 million – an increase of £130 million on the initial bid. That same month, the first test run on the line was compelted with a train travelling from Ashington to Newcastle.

In September, council officers confirmed a “lessons learnt” review as being carried out into the project after the increase in costs.

The Newsham station was confirmed to be delayed until the new year in November, with the stations at Ashington and Seaton Delaval still set to begin in December.

The opening date was confirmed as Decmber 15 at the start of the month, with the first trains carrying passengers as planned.

2025 – The Newsham station is expected to open early in the year. However, no dates have yet been provided for the remaining three stations.

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