Northumberland Line finally reopens (well, some of the stations)

[StoneRoad]

Tomorrow I shall be indulging my [inner] train nerd by having a return trip to Ashington, to celebrate the much delayed and equally anticipated re-opening ...

Ashington railway station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[StoneRoad]

Tomorrow I shall be indulging my [inner] train nerd by having a return trip to Ashington, to celebrate the much delayed and equally anticipated re-opening ...

Ashington railway station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Deed completed ...
Hopefully the other stations will be finished within a few months.
It did seem quite busy for a Monday - Ashington Station car park was probably half-full this afternoon.
Not expensive, either, so may well go back in warmer weather.
Traction was a couple of 158s and we had a PNB [lunch] at Ashington.
Not without some fun n games due to plastic tangled up in the East Coast OHL [near Killingworth, I think] - and hanging about waiting for a biomass delivery to pass at one of the long loops.

 

[editor]

Great to see another line coming back to life:



The Telegraph makes some valid points about how long the process takes and the hefty costs involved:

When the 08.36 to Newcastle pulls out of Ashington station on Sunday, heralding the first passenger train on the Northumberland Line in more than 60 years, the people of north-east England would be forgiven for rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
“Even very recently, when they could actually see the line being built, residents were telling me ‘oh, it’s never going to happen,’” says Richard Wearmouth, deputy leader of Northumberland County Council.
And you can excuse their cynicism. The reopening of this line to passengers, a victim of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, was first mooted in the 1990s. When plans were finally put into motion five years ago, it was supposed to be an £160 million project ready in spring 2023. After delay upon delay, it’s now opening on Sunday at an estimated £298 million, with only two of its six stations ready.

And yet the Northumberland Line is no HS2 mega project. There weren’t hundreds of miles of cuttings, embankments, expensive bridges (well, there was one of those, but more of that later) or tunnels to contend with: the journey from Ashington to Newcastle is just 18 miles and 34 minutes long. Forget the idea of a disused railway line with saplings growing through the points too; the Northumberland Line has remained in use for freight trains all this time.
Pop some stations in, upgrade the track a bit – how hard could it be?
Turns out, with this country’s labyrinthine planning, funding, construction and transport ecosystems, it is incredibly hard.
“It’s exasperating,” says transport commentator Christian Wolmar. “It is actually possible to do these things quickly – just look at France and Germany – but the political, technical and financial processes you have to go through in this country make everything both very expensive and very slow.”

https://archive.ph/0fnuu#selection-3049.0-3069.297

 

[neonwilderness]

Not expensive, either, so may well go back in warmer weather.

I think they've tied it into the Metro fare zones which will be useful, especially when Northumberland Park opens. I'll probably have a run up in the next couple of weeks and tie it in with a walk somewhere.

 

[Dogsauce]

I’ll see your ‘first mooted in the 1990s’ and raise you the as yet unstarted Portishead reopening, first proposed in 1981 as part of the Avon Metro. Still waiting…

(This one was reopened for freight in 2001 after 20 years dormant, with only three miles over flat countryside to reinstate, track still down though needs replacement. £180 million was I think the last estimate).

 

[StoneRoad]

I think they've tied it into the Metro fare zones which will be useful, especially when Northumberland Park opens. I'll probably have a run up in the next couple of weeks and tie it in with a walk somewhere.

So far, Seaton Delaval is the only "intermediate" station that is open, although a couple of the others looked very close - so sometime in 2025.

I did notice a tapin/out reader at what would be the gateline in Ashington ... and overheard someone asking why their card wasn't valid - because it was a Tyne & Wear thing and you're in Northumberland !

 

[neonwilderness]

So far, Seaton Delaval is the only "intermediate" station that is open, although a couple of the others looked very close - so sometime in 2025.

I did notice a tapin/out reader at what would be the gateline in Ashington ... and overheard someone asking why their card wasn't valid - because it was a Tyne & Wear thing and you're in Northumberland !

The pop cards are supposed to be valid on the line. It's a £6.20 daily cap including the Metro, which seems fairly reasonable.

Tickets | Northumberland Line

www.northumberlandline.uk

 

[StoneRoad]

Well, my "auld gadgies" card got me a discount yesterday ... so I'm happy !

PS had to laugh yesterday - guard was checking tickets and said they had seen far more "passes" that real tickets in the past few hours !