FROM December 2023, after a gap of almost 60 years, communities in the south-eastern corner of Northumberland are due to regain their train service. The line itself never closed and has continued to carry freight since passenger traffic ceased in 1964, but the towns and villages in this comparatively densely-populated part of an otherwise mainly rural county have struggled.
The area includes Blyth, Northumberland’s largest town (population circa 39,000), Ashington (with a population of around 29,000) and Bedlington (circa 18,000), as well as Seaton Delaval (circa 8,000), which is close to the North Tyneside boundary and earmarked for significant housing development.
With the decline of local industry, the area’s economy was described as fragile even before the 2005 closure of Ellington Colliery, the last deep pit in the North East, and Alcan’s Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter seven years later. Although Blyth is being developed as a hub for the renewable energy sector, with major inward investment taking place, Northumberland County Council (NCC) says that there are around half as many jobs locally as there are people of working age, meaning that many need to travel further afield for employment.
These are districts where car ownership is relatively low and, despite being less than 20 miles from Newcastle, buses can take over an hour to reach the city centre. The end-to-end journey time by rail should be around 35 minutes.
Long time coming
The need for passenger services to be restored has been debated for decades.
In 1992, NCC and the erstwhile district authorities of Wansbeck and Blyth Valley pushed for proposals to be included in the Northern Region Councils Association plan for rail, citing economic and environmental benefits. South East Northumberland Rail User Group (SENRUG) began lobbying for reopening in 2005 and, four years later, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) highlighted the line as one
