Northumberland line: another success in the making

Tuesday 17th December 2024

Over the last ten years we’ve welcomed Tweedbank in 2015, Okehampton in 2021, then Levenmouth earlier this year and now this week, after a 60 year break, passenger trains are running again on the 18 mile Northumberland line between Ashington and Newcastle and all the signs are it’ll be another successful rail renaissance.

The tracks were never fully closed having seen regular use by freight trains continuing beyond Ashington to Lynemouth Power Station, but it’s naturally a big thing in the North East to see passenger trains return from Sunday so I took a ride yesterday to see passenger reaction.

Since the service ceased in the Beeching cuts of 1964, travellers have either travelled by bus or used cars from this part of south east Northumberland to reach Newcastle.

Arriva run a number of routes to and from this well populated area with the X20/X21/X22 serving Ashington and (X21) Bedlington, the X9 serving Blyth Bebside, the X10/X11 serving Newsham and the X7…

… serving Seaton Delaval.

Most run half hourly with the X20 providing an hourly fast service…

… taking the most direct route giving an Ashington to Newcastle journey time of 45 minutes.

The X21 and X22 provide a coordinated 10 minute frequency but longer journey times.

The new rail service runs half hourly (hourly evenings and Sundays) and takes between 35 and 38 minutes. Departures from Ashington begin at 06:00 (08:36 on Sundays) with the last journey back from Newcastle at 22:16 (21:55 on Sundays).

Aside from Ashington, the only other station ready to open on Sunday was Seaton Delaval but it’s hoped to get Newsham open early in the New Year with Bedlington and Blyth Bebside following later in the year. Although it looked like there was quite a lot of work still to be done at the former as we passed by.

All three stations are two platform affairs with footbridge and lifts.

A new single platform station at Northumberland Park will provide interchange with the Tyne & Wear Metro…

… and is said will also open later next year although I have my doubts, having seen the preparatory work so far.

2026 looks more likely. Half the journeys on Mondays to Saturdays also stop at Manors on the main line just north of Newcastle.

The South East Northumberland Rail User Group began lobbying for a reopening 19 years ago so you can imagine their delight at finally achieving their goal although they’re determination and tenacity continues as they’d like to see passenger trains continue beyond Ashington towards Lynemouth and then using what would need to be new tracks to New Biggin-By-The-Sea as the next step.

When the project became a confirmed reality in 2020 the estimated cost was around £160 million. As is the way with these things, the final cost is getting on for double that with a bill of around £300 million presumably leading to substantial rewrites of the business plan. The cost of a road bridge at Newsham tripled during this period.

Contributions towards the cost have come from the Department of Transport, Northumberland County Council and Network Rail.

The scheme is projected to deliver economic benefits up to £470m and when you look at the population density of the catchment area served by each new station and the connections everyone will enjoy into the wider rail network you can see what a boon it will be for residents and the local economy.

Obviously these early days in the busy week before Christmas are not going to be typical especially with the curious and first timers out in force (especially on Sunday when very sensibly Norhern arranged four coach trains) but I was intrigued to see how many commuters would use the early morning journeys into Newcastle so took the 07:16 departure north from Newcastle yesterday morning so I could sample the 08:00 return from Ashington which arrives into Newcastle at a handy 08:36.

Only six passengers alighted as the train arrived in Newcastle at 07:08 on the previous journey having left Ashington at 06:31 and only four of us headed north at 07:16 but the impressive thing was we left Ashington at 08:00 with 28 on board…

… and picked a further 19 up in Seaton Delaval.

I reckon 47 on a first commuting morning is an excellent omen for the future. And you could tell almost all were genuine commuting passengers rather than curious bloggers like myself.

After a break I took another ride out to Ashington stopping off at Seaton Delaval on the way and all the trains I observed during the morning had loadings of 30-40 leaving Ashington and another 20 or so at Seaton Delaval.

Many were shoppers, some just curious and some dedicated train travellers but I reckon that’s an excellent start and bodes very well.

As you can see Northern are using Class 158s for the new service with the timetable needing three train sets. A new base for conductors working the line has been established at Ashington station.

Drivers (and trains) are based at Newcastle.

Facilities at both new stations are best described as basic.

Seaton Delaval and Ashington are both single platform affairs with a shelter and seats.

The line goes to single track in a couple of places, including Seaton Delaval and at Ashington a new buffer stop spur line has been built…

… alongside where the tracks continue to Lynemouth.

The new platform is just south of where the old platforms were located which you can still see.

Next train departure signs on the platforms have not yet been programmed…

…although the screen monitor type displays are working.

There’s one of Northern’s large screen ticket machines at each station…

… and staff were on hand yesterday morning at both locations to assist passengers unfamiliar with such technology.

There’s an undercover double deck cycle rack at each station…

… but dominating both are the car parks and judging by the number of cars parked at Ashington it’s already proving popular as a Park and Ride site for motorists from further afield.

It won’t be long before all the spaces are taken if yesterday morning is anything to go by.

Seaton Delaval’s car park wasn’t so busy and its electric charging points have yet to be commissioned.

I returned to Newcastle later in the morning from Ashington on Arriva’s fast X20 to sample the alternative.

The bus comes south from Alnwick, and after picking up in Ashington bus station takes in a very populated part of the town…

… before joining the A189, A19 and A1 fast to Newcastle.

I checked how long Google maps reckon it would take to walk to the station from the southern part of Ashington and at 40 minutes you can see that the new rail service is not a threat to Arriva’s network, which serves a different market.

A similar situation applies at the other stations where the buses provide better penetration into the residential areas and link intermediate points.

However, the disappointment was the poor state of roadside information with many missing timetables at bus stops including the stops closest to Ashington station (above) and Seaton Delaval station (below).

It’s all very well installing sparkly new signs telling rail passengers where to head for buses…

… but when you get to the bus stop the image awaiting you is appalling.

What a shame some of the £300 million (eg a few thousand) couldn’t have been used by Northumberland County Council to up its game on this aspect of ‘integration’ and presentation.

And, I know it’s hard at this time of year, but extra attention to cleaning front windows by Arriva staff…

… would make a huge difference to a journey.

That aside it was good to see both buses (my late morning X20 was very well loaded arriving in Newcastle with many waiting to return)…

… and trains on their first weekday on the new service so well patronised.

It was very encouraging to see.

Roger French

Don’t miss Thursday’s blog detailing the climax to my Every Route 100 series, finally riding 26 of 26; Saturday’s blog will be BusAndTrainUser’s Review of the Year followed by a special Christmas Eve blog next Tuesday celebrating all the winners of the coveted BusAndTrainUser Awards for 2024. The annual 100 Bus And Train Events of 2024 (in just 10 minutes) vlog will appear on YouTube on Boxing Day.