Absolutely brilliant update and great to see. Hopefully this line will inspire our railway campaigners around the country not to give up on their railway reopening dreams :)
I grew up in Bedlington Station (forty odd years ago) so have been following this project closely. Great to see it so close to completion. It won’t take long before all of the stations are open. Thanks for making and sharing the video. I can’t wait to ride on the line myself.
Really good video and I'm both glad it's happened and that you got the opportunity to be part of it and make content as a result - evidently, someone at the railway or at the council knows what an asset you are to the community and to discussion of infrastructure in the North East.
Pity Blyth is poorly designed and laid out as to get to the train station in Blyth requires getting to bebside and newsham on the far ends of Blyth so it's a bit inconvenient. Same with Seaton Delavals station too. It's a bit out of the way.
@@Dents6679 I think Washington should have at the very least a Metro service but given the amount of false dawns and talking shops over the last 3 decades I’m pretty sure that 3 decades hence we’ll still be waiting. Add the fact that this government has withdrawn all monies for rail reinvestment projects it’s looking bleak.
Cracking video, and I'm campaigning for the Northumberland Coast Loop which would use the Northumberland Line as far as Bedlington, then cut back onto the ECML via Hepscott, then stop at/pass through Pegswood and form a new link northward. Can't wait to ride this line when I get a chance!
Brilliant production. Well done! It’s a remarkably simple railway to deliver and the benefits should be quickly realised, maybe with an increase in service frequency especially in the evenings. I hope that the success will spur the authorities to reinstate a rail connection (either by heavy rail or the Metro) back to Washington, another area that would benefit from the economic benefits rail delivers.
@@rachelcarre9468 I agree that Washington is long overdue for a rail connection of some description being one of the largest towns in the country without access to rail. Unfortunately the current government has cancelled the restoration of rail project initiated by the previous government and diverted the money elsewhere. There has been talk of restoring the Leamside Line which passes through Washington since the late ‘90s and talk is all that’s happened. The route has become so badly degraded over the last three decades that reinstatement costs would be astronomical as the trackbed is close to collapse in some places. I think Washington’s best hope is to be part of a Metro expansion by creating a loop from Pelaw to South Hylton via Washington and Penshaw. It would utilise trackbeds of both the Leamside and Sunderland to Durham routes both of which are in decent shape on those sections and free of development. I don’t think it would be a a huge project given that it’s a reinstatement rather than a new build and much infrastructure already exists. A big question is how it will be funded and how can the government be convinced to commit to it. Without government funding it won’t happen so I’m not holding my breath.
Thanks for bringing back some happy memories having lived in Newcastle for ten years, marrying a Geordie lass. I have driven up to Blythe, Bedlington, Cramlington and Ashington numerous times
Been following this project since it was confirmed and i can't believe its nearly here. Hopefully it will prove to be a great example of what bringing passenger services back to already existing / little used lines can do for areas. I also hope Manors see's some love and gets a bit of a spruce up lol
Lucky for you going on the preview train. Great its been called The Northumberland Line, just in case any residents of Newcastle and Ashington thought they were in Cornwall. I'm coming up from London on 15th December on the 08.48 Lumo train from King's Cross to go on the actual opening day and staying two nights in Newcastle to go to Ashington also on Monday (and get a few Tyne & Wear Metro rides in too) before going home on Tuesday on the 14.26 LNER train to King's Cross. I did travel along most of the Northumberland Line with UK Railtours on 7th April 2018 but not to Ashington, it turned off and went down the freight branch to North Blyth instead. Your video has whetted my appetite and I now can't wait to get there this coming Sunday. Let's hope the line lives up to expectations. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, London N8
I can recall travelling from Blyth to Newcastle aged ten with a few of my friends just before it's closure and I'm so happy to see it back, PS Newsham is pronounced News em not New sham. Good video tho thanks.
Great video. This has all come together remarkably quickly, despite some delays. Here's hoping the first of the new T&W trains makes it out before Christmas.
Great video. This will be a great addition for Northumberland. I am hoping that one day they will run from Morpeth to Ashington but I cannot see that happening. I live in Morpeth and the bus from Morpeth to Ashington is an absolute joke so if there is a way to get onto that line from Morpeth, that would be amazing.
Moved to Washington in 1988 when the Metro extension to Washington was promised, 2024 and still waiting! but London can spend a fortune on the Elizabeth line
Looking forward to the opening of Northumberland Park station as it will improve my commute no end. Pity the platform hasn't seen any significant progress in months.
Informative video. I'm unlikely to benefit directly from the service myself but I've never understood why it was cut or why more opportunities were not taken to use the many lines in Northumberland to provide a basic, connecting service into Newcastle and beyond.
Excellent news for the region. I've been going back there for 60 years. Ashington and Blyth will soon be plugged back into the network, which can only be good for the economy of those towns a little farther north.
@@Anonymoususer_8823 Alnmouth - Alnwick will reopen in the coming years as a heritage line. It’s already been reinstated between Alnwick Lionheart and Greenrigg. Development between the A1 bypass and the original station mean that it will never reach the old terminus.
Apparently it opens in Seaton Delaval this Sunday and I'll be very interested to see how much true demand there is here for this. I think it's a certain amount of hot air.
Hope this line is going to be successful as my local line the ebbw vale line which reopened in 2008 now a very busy commuter service to Cardiff and Newport
Only one of them is anywhere near Northumberland so I know which one should have to change. But I reckon this will probably end up officially being Northumberland Park (Newcastle) when buying a train ticket, like Mills Hill in Manchester
@@edificity Historically everything north of the Tyne is Northumberland and was administered as such until the Local Government Act of 1974. As the P+R, Bus and Metro have been using this name at this location for years already the addition of a National Rail Station shouldn’t force change. Perhaps the addition of Lon/T+W to avoid potential conflict or confusion is all that’s required.
There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for this new service. Why was it even closed in the first place? They probably lied to us about it being underused
OK, so how about opening the B&T back to Newbiggin? After all the line is still there as far as the NCB Junction at Woodhorn, less than a mile and a half to reinstate.
Nice to see the Northumberland Line now reopened. Very nice to see it up and running. Why not extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and from Newsham to Blyth.
Such a shame that Bedlington the only station that actually had a platform left in tact has had it removed and they havent even started building the new one yet.
@@geordieurbex2200 your right, I can see it happening too, the fact that they have removed old platform, totally erased the station and not even started putting in new foundations. There seems to be a total lack of urgency in contrast to all the other stations
I propose a new branding for the heavy rail metro lines: Suburban, which would be equivalent to the S-Bahn. Branding would be replacing Metro’s “M” to a “S” and background from yellow to green. The distinctive branding and further system and ticketing integration with the Metro (Nexus) would make it much easier to use and any expansion of the Tyne and Wear rail network much easier by converting some heavy rail into “Suburban” lines.
I'd love to see this kind of thing - Nexus already has 'R' rail branding to go with 'M' for Metro, 'B' for buses and 'F' for ferry but it can't use it anywhere because the rail lines are operated by other companies
@ I don’t think there is a necessity for “R” designation, London Underground just uses the National Rail logo and it’s actually more straightforward. Although Northumberland Line is currently operated by Northern Rail I still think it or any rail lines can easily be rebranded and integrated with the Metro system with more consistent branding and ticketing, and still be franchised to Northern Rail in terms of operation. Elizabeth Line or even the Overground are good examples.
How did this happen? National government has gutted local government and the Tories didn’t care about mass transit in the North, even when borrowing was dirt cheap and ROI was a no-brainier.
Its been ongoing since 2018/19, Started by the Labour County Council but then the Tory Councty Council that replaced them pushed for it because the line cuts though marginal seats and it was seen as an easy win (we know how that went though). When they lost and Restoring Your Railways was scrapped by the new government, the Northumberland Line and one other project (i can't remember which one) were too far gone in the construction process so would see completion. Its about time this line reopened, its been sorely needed since the 90's, like Edi said in the video.
Sheer bloody effort from all involved. You are 100% right that getting any project, even 'shovel ready' like this is a grueling marathon. Studies, politics, ecological surveys, land assembly, transport and works acts or other orders, and then you have to persuade cent. Govt to actually fund it. Well done to all!
@@xanderside8899 Colour me surprised. A politician is defined by knowing lots of people and a council of them can bring people together to formulate a project but ideas need money and county councils don't have any. That means begging a national government that wants to sabotage them. No amount of shovel readiness, local support and high ROI can prevent a proposal going directly to the bin. Some local councillor must have the right contacts.
£££ - To get this done they had to do it as cheap as possible and its still way over budget. Not even our mainlines are fully electrified (yet), so a small local branch like this would never get the go ahead for it
@@edificity Exactly this, i don't drive, currently if i want to get into the City Centre, i have to sit on a bus for an hour, the majority of that time running around housing estates, getting stuck at West Allotment/Quorum and being sat on Gosforth High Street, 25 minutes from Blyth to Central will be amazing.
Again the investment will be wasted by only running 2 car units. Trains are chaotic between Newcastle and Middlesbrough at a weekend with trains not able to pick up at the recently opened stations. The same will happen here. God knows what will happen on match days.
Most of the stations arnt finished, it's caused mayhem in blyth with the traffic, and most of the people in blyth live too far away from stations to use them
Government and council funded is misleading. It’s tax payer funded, without which neither has any funds (other than printing it (quantitive easing) The Blyth/Newsham stations are at least a 20 minute walk from Blyth I’m told. Hardly convenient for most Blyth residents.
Awesome poster design. And lucky you for getting a sneak preview. Let's hope this line exceeds predictions and leads to more good things.
Absolutely brilliant update and great to see. Hopefully this line will inspire our railway campaigners around the country not to give up on their railway reopening dreams :)
I grew up in Bedlington Station (forty odd years ago) so have been following this project closely. Great to see it so close to completion. It won’t take long before all of the stations are open.
Thanks for making and sharing the video. I can’t wait to ride on the line myself.
Really good video and I'm both glad it's happened and that you got the opportunity to be part of it and make content as a result - evidently, someone at the railway or at the council knows what an asset you are to the community and to discussion of infrastructure in the North East.
I live in Blyth. i'm so glad this line is opening its so long overdue
Pity Blyth is poorly designed and laid out as to get to the train station in Blyth requires getting to bebside and newsham on the far ends of Blyth so it's a bit inconvenient. Same with Seaton Delavals station too. It's a bit out of the way.
@ yeah that's true. no matter which station you get to youd still need to get on a bus to get into the town centre
Really happy to see new rail infrastructure in the north east. Hoping something will be coming to Washington soon.
@@Dents6679 I think Washington should have at the very least a Metro service but given the amount of false dawns and talking shops over the last 3 decades I’m pretty sure that 3 decades hence we’ll still be waiting. Add the fact that this government has withdrawn all monies for rail reinvestment projects it’s looking bleak.
Washington will never get anything.
Cracking video, and I'm campaigning for the Northumberland Coast Loop which would use the Northumberland Line as far as Bedlington, then cut back onto the ECML via Hepscott, then stop at/pass through Pegswood and form a new link northward. Can't wait to ride this line when I get a chance!
Yes, I debated whether to put the Loop campaign in here but decided the topic deserves its own look
Brilliant production. Well done! It’s a remarkably simple railway to deliver and the benefits should be quickly realised, maybe with an increase in service frequency especially in the evenings. I hope that the success will spur the authorities to reinstate a rail connection (either by heavy rail or the Metro) back to Washington, another area that would benefit from the economic benefits rail delivers.
@@rachelcarre9468 I agree that Washington is long overdue for a rail connection of some description being one of the largest towns in the country without access to rail.
Unfortunately the current government has cancelled the restoration of rail project initiated by the previous government and diverted the money elsewhere.
There has been talk of restoring the Leamside Line which passes through Washington since the late ‘90s and talk is all that’s happened. The route has become so badly degraded over the last three decades that reinstatement costs would be astronomical as the trackbed is close to collapse in some places.
I think Washington’s best hope is to be part of a Metro expansion by creating a loop from Pelaw to South Hylton via Washington and Penshaw. It would utilise trackbeds of both the Leamside and Sunderland to Durham routes both of which are in decent shape on those sections and free of development. I don’t think it would be a a huge project given that it’s a reinstatement rather than a new build and much infrastructure already exists. A big question is how it will be funded and how can the government be convinced to commit to it. Without government funding it won’t happen so I’m not holding my breath.
Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the opening next week :)
Thanks for bringing back some happy memories having lived in Newcastle for ten years, marrying a Geordie lass. I have driven up to Blythe, Bedlington, Cramlington and Ashington numerous times
Fantastic to see this new line is so close to opening! And LOVE the poster design, wish we had something like that for Durham
As a former resident and growing up in Ashington. I am so glad they have a train now.
this is great - looking forward to the opening :)
Informative video.
I love your poster design - really lovely work.
Been following this project since it was confirmed and i can't believe its nearly here. Hopefully it will prove to be a great example of what bringing passenger services back to already existing / little used lines can do for areas.
I also hope Manors see's some love and gets a bit of a spruce up lol
Probably will not ever need to use the service but nice to know that they're expanding the network to where it is needed.
Thank you for the video, hits all the points and didn't drag. Also love your poster design too.
I've subscribed and look forward to future videos.
Great video, and good to hear the line is reopening at the timetable change on 15th December. Let’s hope it’s a huge success.
Stopping at Manors!
Wow.
Thanks for sharing your informative vid - looking forward to a run along the reopened line.
Thank you for the video
Just a quick point, Newsham I s pronounced News-ham, there’s no SH sound
What a brilliantly put together project and video. Wishing the line and its users well ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had no idea I was sitting behind you! Great video mate!
Oh Ashington is wonderful! It's full of pubs bookies and chip shops! Oh Ashington is wonderful!
Your a brilliant creator great to see more off your stuff and being noticed aswell happy Chanukkah
Brilliant news 👍
Great video, I remember all the closures, let's hope the future is a bright one!
Lucky for you going on the preview train. Great its been called The Northumberland Line, just in case any residents of Newcastle and Ashington thought they were in Cornwall. I'm coming up from London on 15th December on the 08.48 Lumo train from King's Cross to go on the actual opening day and staying two nights in Newcastle to go to Ashington also on Monday (and get a few Tyne & Wear Metro rides in too) before going home on Tuesday on the 14.26 LNER train to King's Cross. I did travel along most of the Northumberland Line with UK Railtours on 7th April 2018 but not to Ashington, it turned off and went down the freight branch to North Blyth instead. Your video has whetted my appetite and I now can't wait to get there this coming Sunday. Let's hope the line lives up to expectations. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, London N8
See you Sunday. Great video, and really loved the poster. It should be made 'official'.....
Nice video. Cannot wait to ride this Railway Line
I can recall travelling from Blyth to Newcastle aged ten with a few of my friends just before it's closure and I'm so happy to see it back, PS Newsham is pronounced News em not New sham. Good video tho thanks.
Nicely done. Good poster too
Really enjoyed that, thank you.
Great poster.
Look at the state of that train
Great video. This has all come together remarkably quickly, despite some delays. Here's hoping the first of the new T&W trains makes it out before Christmas.
Great video. This will be a great addition for Northumberland. I am hoping that one day they will run from Morpeth to Ashington but I cannot see that happening. I live in Morpeth and the bus from Morpeth to Ashington is an absolute joke so if there is a way to get onto that line from Morpeth, that would be amazing.
Moved to Washington in 1988 when the Metro extension to Washington was promised, 2024 and still waiting! but London can spend a fortune on the Elizabeth line
Wonder if the new Ministry building in Newcastle had anything to do with eventually getting this pushed through, great vid
I love your poster
Looking forward to the opening 😊
Looking forward to the opening of Northumberland Park station as it will improve my commute no end. Pity the platform hasn't seen any significant progress in months.
Fantastic
Used to live in Seaton Delaval so definitely looking forward to see what it will be like
Informative video. I'm unlikely to benefit directly from the service myself but I've never understood why it was cut or why more opportunities were not taken to use the many lines in Northumberland to provide a basic, connecting service into Newcastle and beyond.
Excellent news for the region. I've been going back there for 60 years. Ashington and Blyth will soon be plugged back into the network, which can only be good for the economy of those towns a little farther north.
I designed each of the five new station car parks for this scheme. Looking forward to finally seeing it open to the public
Excellent
Eagerly waiting for these to finally run, Ashington station has been ready for months!
It wasnt Beeching it was Marples who had vested interests in road transport, Beeching was a scapegoat
I don't live any where near Newcastle but I love the poster I'd have one too! it looks great, oh and I've subbed
Nice to see the Northumberland Line now reopened. Would be nice to see the Alnmouth-Alnwick line to reopen.
@@Anonymoususer_8823 Alnmouth - Alnwick will reopen in the coming years as a heritage line. It’s already been reinstated between Alnwick Lionheart and Greenrigg. Development between the A1 bypass and the original station mean that it will never reach the old terminus.
@@winco68 Sounds like a great idea. 👍
Especially the coach station at Newcastle upon Tyne railway station with National Express coaches limited and Flixbus locial bus services
Apparently it opens in Seaton Delaval this Sunday and I'll be very interested to see how much true demand there is here for this. I think it's a certain amount of hot air.
Hope this line is going to be successful as my local line the ebbw vale line which reopened in 2008 now a very busy commuter service to Cardiff and Newport
555 Trains coming into service on the 15th too.
Looks like we are going to have two National Rail stations called Northumberland Park. Will one of them get a name change ?
Only one of them is anywhere near Northumberland so I know which one should have to change. But I reckon this will probably end up officially being Northumberland Park (Newcastle) when buying a train ticket, like Mills Hill in Manchester
@@edificity Historically everything north of the Tyne is Northumberland and was administered as such until the Local Government Act of 1974. As the P+R, Bus and Metro have been using this name at this location for years already the addition of a National Rail Station shouldn’t force change. Perhaps the addition of Lon/T+W to avoid potential conflict or confusion is all that’s required.
10 out of 10.
I would love a tea towel as a present for someone. Let us know if you produce anymore or tour willing to share the hi-res image!
Newsham is said as news ham. You don't want to upset the natives😂
Reopening all closed railway lines would cut down on Traffic Jams, Pollution & Car Accidents/Road Deaths.
nice video, where did you find that metro map with the northumberland line included?
I'm looking forward to an early chance to ride this line. Here's hoping introductory fares will be designed to encourage use, and not deter it.
You are very lucky indeed! I'll hopefully be heading out to attend the opening.
There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for this new service. Why was it even closed in the first place? They probably lied to us about it being underused
OK, so how about opening the B&T back to Newbiggin?
After all the line is still there as far as the NCB Junction at Woodhorn, less than a mile and a half to reinstate.
so at present what is the travel time, from central to ash....25mins?
Nice to see the Northumberland Line now reopened. Very nice to see it up and running. Why not extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and from Newsham to Blyth.
Opens on Sunday mate
Nice. Thanks for reminding me. 🙂
When are you going to do a video about Jarra Beach
Such a shame that Bedlington the only station that actually had a platform left in tact has had it removed and they havent even started building the new one yet.
Ashington had 2 platforms intact but they haven’t used either. Instead they’ve built a new one on a spur off the main line.
True, however they finished it in record time
I bet they "run out of funding" when it comes to doing the bedlington station
@@geordieurbex2200 your right, I can see it happening too, the fact that they have removed old platform, totally erased the station and not even started putting in new foundations. There seems to be a total lack of urgency in contrast to all the other stations
VIP??? Hell yeah
nice
I propose a new branding for the heavy rail metro lines: Suburban, which would be equivalent to the S-Bahn. Branding would be replacing Metro’s “M” to a “S” and background from yellow to green. The distinctive branding and further system and ticketing integration with the Metro (Nexus) would make it much easier to use and any expansion of the Tyne and Wear rail network much easier by converting some heavy rail into “Suburban” lines.
I'd love to see this kind of thing - Nexus already has 'R' rail branding to go with 'M' for Metro, 'B' for buses and 'F' for ferry but it can't use it anywhere because the rail lines are operated by other companies
@ I don’t think there is a necessity for “R” designation, London Underground just uses the National Rail logo and it’s actually more straightforward. Although Northumberland Line is currently operated by Northern Rail I still think it or any rail lines can easily be rebranded and integrated with the Metro system with more consistent branding and ticketing, and still be franchised to Northern Rail in terms of operation. Elizabeth Line or even the Overground are good examples.
Should have left all the old railway tracks just incase the lines re open in the future. Bet they had to lay the new tracks costing even more.
No, the tracks were still there for freight services
Always nice to see new lines being utilised - but let’s face it with Northern running the service it’s going to be pretty poor
Need to improve bus rail coach interchanges
I wonder if the next stage in the 2030s will be electrification.
Is this an extension of the metro?
No, it's mainline rail. But unlike other lines pop cards will work specifically at these stations
Wonder if they are ever going to change it to a metro line
How come if you are a pensioner you have to pay £25 if you live in Northumberland but if you live in Tyne and Wear you pay £12 how can this be fair?
How did this happen? National government has gutted local government and the Tories didn’t care about mass transit in the North, even when borrowing was dirt cheap and ROI was a no-brainier.
Its been ongoing since 2018/19, Started by the Labour County Council but then the Tory Councty Council that replaced them pushed for it because the line cuts though marginal seats and it was seen as an easy win (we know how that went though). When they lost and Restoring Your Railways was scrapped by the new government, the Northumberland Line and one other project (i can't remember which one) were too far gone in the construction process so would see completion.
Its about time this line reopened, its been sorely needed since the 90's, like Edi said in the video.
Sheer bloody effort from all involved. You are 100% right that getting any project, even 'shovel ready' like this is a grueling marathon. Studies, politics, ecological surveys, land assembly, transport and works acts or other orders, and then you have to persuade cent. Govt to actually fund it. Well done to all!
@@xanderside8899 Colour me surprised. A politician is defined by knowing lots of people and a council of them can bring people together to formulate a project but ideas need money and county councils don't have any. That means begging a national government that wants to sabotage them. No amount of shovel readiness, local support and high ROI can prevent a proposal going directly to the bin. Some local councillor must have the right contacts.
There's no such thing as "strongly refute". It's a binary, you either refute or you don't. It's not a quantity.
Have a day off
No it's not new, it's just being reopened
why is this line not electrified though?
£££ - To get this done they had to do it as cheap as possible and its still way over budget. Not even our mainlines are fully electrified (yet), so a small local branch like this would never get the go ahead for it
@xanderside8899 sad the government never realises the power of properly investing in public transport
It also takes about half an hour to get to Newcastle from Ashington.. so no journey time difference...
Central Ashington to Central Newcastle is never half an hour with the traffic, especially right now with the Tyne Bridge works
@edificity even without bridge works the gains are marginal... But I agree re opening old lines
Imo the gains are more for people without access to a car - the improvement over the comparable bus journey is much bigger
@@edificity Exactly this, i don't drive, currently if i want to get into the City Centre, i have to sit on a bus for an hour, the majority of that time running around housing estates, getting stuck at West Allotment/Quorum and being sat on Gosforth High Street, 25 minutes from Blyth to Central will be amazing.
Again the investment will be wasted by only running 2 car units. Trains are chaotic between Newcastle and Middlesbrough at a weekend with trains not able to pick up at the recently opened stations. The same will happen here.
God knows what will happen on match days.
if only we didn't have to lease our trains on a per car pricing model from 5 investment banks in a trench coat
And so its not a new line then just one that’s been brought back into passenger use 😂
Most of the stations arnt finished, it's caused mayhem in blyth with the traffic, and most of the people in blyth live too far away from stations to use them
Government and council funded is misleading. It’s tax payer funded, without which neither has any funds (other than printing it (quantitive easing)
The Blyth/Newsham stations are at least a 20 minute walk from Blyth I’m told. Hardly convenient for most Blyth residents.
Also the ‘convenient’ tap in and out cards, does that mean you cannot pay cash for the journeys?