Discovering the Northumberland Line: 16th May 2026
Sorry but this is probably one of my longest reports on the site. I realyl wanted to do the Nurthumberland Line justice. Hopefully I have
When the Northumberland line reopened I vowed I'd do the line and finally I did.
A little History: The line, in 1853, became the Blyth and Tyne Railway When the Marples (Beeching) Axe fell in the mid 1960s The line had its passenger services withdrawn. Unlike many other branch lines the route retained it's freight services but even these declined over the years when the coal fields were closed down. By the 2020s freight was reduced to around 5 trains a day.
In the 19902s there were calls for the line to reopen to passengers but it took until 2013 before any real effort was made and a study was commissioned into reopening the line.
Passenger services resumed on the line on the 15th December 2024 some sixty years since the last passenger train ran.
I was up at really stupid O'Clock to be able to get my usual 05:40 from East Croydon but as I woke before the alarm and I had managed to remember to set up the tea for the flask and my bag being 95% ready I was able to leave earlier than expected. I missed the 05:10 off of East Croydon by literally 1 minute. as I say on the platform X (twitter as we all still call it) pinged to say there were "safety checks" between London Bridge and Blackfriars. A quick check with Thameslink and my train would be diverted via Selhurst/Streatham. It meant I may be late in to St Pancras and therefore no Backon Roll from Greggs. Oh Well.
700144 non winner [13m 05ch].
It did arrive in late just 8 minutes but it did mean I had to walk briskly over to Kings Cross for my train. I walked on to platform 1 and aimed towards coach C but boarded at the buffet coach and purchased a Bacon Roll. Not bad but I would have preferred a Greggs. Then in to coach C and and a table seat.
1S04 Kings Cross to Newcastle 801221 non winner [268m 49ch].
A pretty uneventful trip up the East Coast Mainline saw me arrive bang on time in to Newcastle and the start of the new line adventure.
A casual walk over to platform 7 and shortly after I arrived in pulled my class 158take me north.
158860 winner [18m 50ch].
On leaving Newcastle this trains stopped at Manors then past Heaton depot before the reopen section of line at Benton Junction. While heading northbound I made a brief note on things to try any get photos of. The train arrived into Ashington bang on time.
I decided that I'd grab a proper breakfast at the Wetherspoons (a href="https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/the-rohan-kanhai-ashington/" target"_blank">The Rohan Kanhai then grab a "Subway" sandwich for the train home later. All went well and I was back at the station inside an hour.
Ashington ✅
Originally opening in 1872 and closed in 1964. Originally it has two through platforms, one is disused on the up line (towards Newcastle), overgroen and diplaidated. The other has been partially demolished to allow construction of the new Platform 1/ There os a section of the old platform at the North end of the station.
New Ashington station has a large car park with a good number of spaces including disabled and EV spaces. The station itself has no brick structures but does have waiting shelters with seating or sorts. Looking Norther the track disappears under Station Road and the building that was next to the line has been demoloished and leave a rather ugly metal structure. Hopefully one day that it will be made to look nicer or is replaced.
2T22 Ashington to Bedlington 158845 winner [2m 77ch].
Bedlington ✅
In all honesty my favourite station on the line. The original station was opened on 3rd August 1850, and from photos online it shows that it was quite a large station with a freight line and a branch off to to "A" pitt. It has an old station building that has fallen in to disrepair on the Newcastle bound platform. Would it not be a lovely thing if the old building housed a mini museum of the railway line?
Bedlington has two signal boxes and two level crossings. The south level crossing takes Station Road over the line and is adjacent to Bedlington South signal box which was downgraded on 4th April 2024.
About 300yards north is Nedlington North Signal box (Decommssioned 4th April 2024) and the associated level crossing taking Barrington Road over the line. Just behing Bedlington North box is a small foot crossing which I decided not to use as I only had a limited time in Bedlington. It does aford a good view of the station by one gate. This foot crossing is over the freight only line to Morpeth (
see 'Future' section below for an idea). The Ashington bound platform is all new and both platforms have really good access for passengers in the form of steps and ramps. All in all a really nice station. I have a selection of photos on my
Flickr pages. I would love to go back to Bedlington again with my proper Canon EOS R7 camera rather than my little compact one.
2T24 Bedlington to Blyth Bebside 158860 non winner [1m 16ch].
Blyth Bebside ✅
The station is sited south of the site of the orinal station that was opened on 3rd August 1850. It's 14 miles and 23 chains from Newcastle and has two platforms. Nothing is left of the old station and its environs. The original station had a level crossing but the new station is a fair way off the level crossing. Adjacent to the Newcastle bound platform are fields and on my visit one was populated with three donkeys and a goat. The Ashington bound side has a large car park with disabled and EV parking spots. Again there are no brick/stone building just bus type shelters. On my visit there weren't many people waiting for trains or alighting.
2T26 Blyth Bebside to Newsham 158851 non winner [2m 10ch].
Newsham ✅
Newsham was built and opened by the summer in 1851. It is not built on the former site as this was up near Carlton Avenue. The new station is built south of the, now disused, level crossing at south Newsham Road. The level crossing was decommissioned when the new diversionary road and bridge was built as part of the A1061. The former level crossing does, however, provide a interesting viewpoint for taking photos of trains passing it (if you time it right).
Again no solid structures on the station but it does have two shelters and a lot of access points into and out of the station with short flights of steps and ramps. Crossing the line is done by a new footbridge that also has lifts installed.
2T28 Newsham to Seaton Delaval 158845 [2m 50ch]
Seaton Delaval ✅
My least favourite station for some reason. Maybe I was getting a little tired or or it was that I just was underwhelmed. The original station was opened in 1841 by the Blyth, Seghill and Percy Main Railway. It was one of the Marple (Beeching) Axe and closed in the mid 1960s. Looking at photos online it used to have two platforms and was adjacent to the road bridge that carries the A192 over the line. The Bridge also had a single storey booking hall on it while platfors hosted the toilets and waiting rooms. Sadly everything that was there is demolished. The new station is a single platform, no solid structures and has level entry. A large car park has EV and disabled spaces as well.
Liek all the copy/paste stations on the line it has alot of metal railing and a bus like shelter on it. It was really busy here and when the train arrived it was already fairly full.
2T30 Seaton Dealaval to Northumberland Park (NE) 158860 [3m 25ch]
Northumberland Park (NE) ✅
The newest and the oonly station that isn't a rebirth of a former station. In fact teh station is located west of the site of the former station at Backworth, which was closed to passengers by British Rail on 13 June 1977, to enable the construction of the Tyne and Wear Metro.
The Metro staion is formed of 2 platforms and has a frequent service from South Shields to St. James' stations and vice versa.
The new heavy rail station opened on 22 February 2026 and is comprised of just one platform. Another copy/paste station with limited cover in the form of a shelter and some metal benches.
It is certainly a decent place to photograph the new
class 555 T&W metro units as they arrive and depart the station.
2T32 Northumberland Park (NE) to Newcastle 158815 [6m 34ch]
The Return
Probably because of the amount of people using the train, my train into Newcastle was running a few minutes late which meant I had a bit of a dash from platform 6 over to platforms 3 or 4 to catch a train back to London. I did manage to get over in time to catch the 14:23 which was starting from Newcastle instead of Edinburgh.
1E16 Newcastle to Kings Cross
801106 non winner [268m 49ch].
Soon it departed and I sat and ate my Subway and relaxed. All was going fine until Hitching. Just north of the station the On board staff announced there was a signal failure and that we would be delayed by about 15 minutes. The train switched over to the up slow line and off we went at a slightly reduced speed. We stayed on the slow line until Woolmer Green Jn when we continued back on the fast line. Arriving in to Kings Cross we were just 13 minutes late which I was fine with. a walk over to St Pancras for my next train.
700134 [13m 40ch].
At Croydon I met the wife and daughter and we had dinner before heading home.
2M65 East Croydon to Selhurst
[0m 77ch].
Future.
Is there any further options for the line? Yes. In my own opinion there could be. Extending the line to Newbiggin-by-the-sea would be good for the local economy and potentially tourism to a seaside resort. Certainly at Ashington there is scope for a terminating service and with some clever building work the old platform and the north end of the current platform could be reused for the extended services.
Maybe hourly Newbiggin to start with and an hourly terminating Ashington service?
As the line from Bedlington to Morpeth is still in situ and is used by freight would it be possible for a Newcastle to Newcastle service via Bedlington and Morpeth be of use?
Overview.
What a lovely line. I must say that after midday on a Saturday the trains are packed to the rafters and they should be all four car units. I really enjoyed the trip along the line and it would be nice to maybe see some railtours along it. I think a view of a steam trtain over Bedlington Viaduct or North Seaton Viaduct would look amazing. Even standing by the foot crossing at Bedlington North Level Crossing would prove to be a good view with the steam billowing out of the locomotive.
One thing I would like to have seen at Bedlington and Ashington stations would have been Station/Railway history boards giving the story of the station.
- Miles Completed: 602.03m
- New Lines:
Newcastle to Ashington
- Individual Moves: 12
- Winners: 3
Site Update: 19th April 2026
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