That brass band is very Victorian, just like opening a station on the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1830 (edit : William IV was King then, of course, so very pre-Victorian)
It just goes to show how wrong it was in the Beeching days, to rip up all those lines rather than just moth ball them, but hindsight is another thing! Great Video, many wise words spoken by all!
Massive benefit that you touched upon… integration with Tyne and Wear metro at Northumberland park and central station… AND Northumberland line is covered by the Pop card (including a new zone D). With “overland” main line routes like this being added the regional system is getting back up to the strength of the “Tyneside Electrics” of the early 20 century🤩
I expected the first train from Newcastle would be busy with other enthusiasts and it was; I was pleased and surprised to see so many locals waiting to board the first train from Ashington at 8 o'clock on a December Sunday morning. Not many people got off the next arrival, but it was reasonably busy when it departed at 09:36. We have been waiting for this (and the new Metro Class 555s) for a very long time, but it seems things really are getting better. (Just for once I didn't have to travel miles to take part in a railway event, I live just up the road from Newcastle Central 😀).
I was hoping you’d return for the opening. Such a great day to have the line reopen. It will open so many doors for people who can now easily get to Newcastle.
It's a bit annoying to pay loads of money to go on railtours to travel along these freight-only lines, only to have them reopened to passengers later. Maesteg, Ebbw Vale, Ashington, etc etc! Only kidding - great to see these reopenings. Hope they reopen to Newbiggin one day. Then there's Pelaw to Washington...
Pelaw to Washington, yep that is the one they need to prioritize. Big prize to be gained there. The population of Washington has pretty much trebled since the original passenger service closed. If they could link it directly into Sunderland as well then that would be even better.
...or the Leamside, Durham line - where locals once sadly watched the lines being ripped up for weeks only to discover it was gangs theiving the track!!
I notice Tim has managed to get away from the London Underground. I reckon you lot hunt in packs. Great vid thanks. Ah he even gets lines. Do you have to pay him now?
I understand the need to build a new platfromatt Ashington, but it does feel relatively poorly integrated with the town, with no access to the east adn difficult access from the north. A footbridge would much immprove this and I can see this being included in the future, but would it not have been easier to do before the line opened!.
Hey Geoff, great to see this video i knew would be coming! I was born in Blyth just over the river from Ashington and Lived there 24 Years. Reopening the line always seemed to get talked about but never got anywhere, to see it finally happen is amazing, even if i am now in North Yorkshire. Newsham, which you did a video on the construction of, was a stone’s throw from my old house, and Bebside is also very familiar to me, can’t wait to see your videos when those stations open. Got into your videos through my love of the tube and the railways, but never thought i’d see you at stations so near to my birthplace, but here we are, aren’t Railways Brilliant! Thank You Geoff :)
I wasn't there today, but I'm one of a slowly decreasing band who travelled from Ashington by rail before the station closed at the end of October 1964. My last trip was a return to Newcastle on 15th October '64, a Thursday, when we were given a day off school because the school was being used as a general election polling station. (Harold Wilson won). The old station, built in red brick with a glass and wrought iron canopy over the southbound platform was a delight to look at, with a welcoming coal fire burning in the waiting room to keep travellers toasted.
Funny you should say that. Seaton Delaval Hall is about a mile from the station. It was designed by Vanbrugh who was a playwright as well as an architect, and the Delaval family was famous for putting on plays and other entertainments.
Hi Geoff Why do new or refurbished stations not have level boarding? It’s great to see new stations being built but it is disappointing for people like myself who struggled to use trains when they have a gap and a height between the train and platform.
The standardised platform height is 915 mm to the best of my knowledge. It would be level boarding if trains with doorway floors of that height were used, like the Stadler FLIRT trains used on Merseyrail, Greater Anglia and Transport for Wales - and, soon, the Tyne & Wear Metro. What's needed is to make 915mm boarding height compulsory for all new trains operating only within Britain. The Class 158s replacement must meet this requirement.
Always good to see a new station being opened ☺️👏 Pedantry alert - I've spotted a typo on the timetable, second train from Ashington to Seaton Delaval would be arriving at 0648 I would have thought, not 0848 👍
weirdly enough, i am doing JUST that in the new year! Spoilers! a non-TfL bus, whom i'm spending the day with ... ( the RP1 is also another good shout, yes! )
A great day indeed - I'm happy this has finally come to fruition, although some of the other stations on the line won't open till later in 2025. I just hope the local population use it fully - if they don't, well, we all know where that ends up. I'd definitely use it to get to Northumberland Park, once that opens, as it might shave off 10-15 mins of getting there via the Metro.
Its a shame that im not aware of any main news body covering this. I live in wales but i think its fantastic that this money was paid and all these new stations are up and running, i really hope they'll be well used.
I’d like you return to all the new stations you have covered, say after at least six months of operation, to report on what the station looks like and how busy it seems. Passenger numbers would be great to know although I guess you might have to wait for the end of year report.
Great to see lines being reopened. I just wish they could build stations with just a bit of character instead of these new identikit bus shelter platforms.
Given the number of years this has been in planning why are the residents of the other areas still having to wait months for their stations to be opened.? Just about sums up Network Rail. As someone else has pointed out trains are "run" by Northern so local residents hold off buying season tickets or whatever until you know you have a reliable service.
Because they're still being built? It was planned to open all the stations at once, but individual sites hit delays, unmapped mines, archaeology and unexploded bombs. Better to open some as soon as they're ready and get it into service than wait for the snagging to be complete on the other stations well into 2025. We've waited 30 years since serious talks about reopening our line, and 60 years since it last carried passangers, we can wait a month or two for Newsham and the rest in 2025.
Listen, they either release what they have now or delay the whole line? Would you have rather waited an extra year or few months if you lived in Ashington? Don't be silly...
I photographed the demolition of Ashington station in May 1968, three and a half years after it closed. It was removed entirely down to ground level. The only remnants visible in 1988 (and onwards) were the station platforms, being increasingly weed-infested.
Not the case if you use a pop card or day ticket and depends on your age. Young folk can access it for 3 quid and an adult day D zone ticket is about a fiver. That is not a bad price for how quickly it gets you around compared to buses. Even the London Underground costs more.
It's not just about balancing ticket sales with costs. Even relatively small lines or expansion of existing services can have a huge impact on the economy of a local area.
I would say that was pretty cheap to be honest for bringing a railway line back plus how many people can now go further afield from Northumberland to get into work
![KRK - ชนิสรา Ft.WanMai , N/A [Official MV] Prod. By Sakarin](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C-WMwwYobcU/mqdefault.jpg)
The celebrations on arrival at Ashington is exactly what reopening our long lost rail routes should feel like, it's great!
loved the band playing Blaydon Races HWTL 🖤🤍
So many more lines to reopen, I hope the Ivanhoe Line between Burton and Leicester is next!
Midleton had this
That brass band is very Victorian, just like opening a station on the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1830 (edit : William IV was King then, of course, so very pre-Victorian)
It just goes to show how wrong it was in the Beeching days, to rip up all those lines rather than just moth ball them, but hindsight is another thing! Great Video, many wise words spoken by all!
Hello, I was on this line today.
Got the first train of the day out of Newcastle!
I saw you!
@PieterCusters1983 Yeah you may of, I was with 4 of my friends. Would've had more but some couldn't come along.
Hopefullly now more disused lines can get a passenger service (although ticket prices do have to improve first...)!
Unlikely......
Massive benefit that you touched upon… integration with Tyne and Wear metro at Northumberland park and central station… AND Northumberland line is covered by the Pop card (including a new zone D). With “overland” main line routes like this being added the regional system is getting back up to the strength of the “Tyneside Electrics” of the early 20 century🤩
I expected the first train from Newcastle would be busy with other enthusiasts and it was; I was pleased and surprised to see so many locals waiting to board the first train from Ashington at 8 o'clock on a December Sunday morning. Not many people got off the next arrival, but it was reasonably busy when it departed at 09:36. We have been waiting for this (and the new Metro Class 555s) for a very long time, but it seems things really are getting better. (Just for once I didn't have to travel miles to take part in a railway event, I live just up the road from Newcastle Central 😀).
Geoff must be busy to upload these videos just all the editing takes him a long time so appreciate his content guys
Aw Wow Lovely Vid About The Northumberland Is Now Open Mr. Marshall
I was hoping you’d return for the opening. Such a great day to have the line reopen. It will open so many doors for people who can now easily get to Newcastle.
It's a bit annoying to pay loads of money to go on railtours to travel along these freight-only lines, only to have them reopened to passengers later.
Maesteg, Ebbw Vale, Ashington, etc etc!
Only kidding - great to see these reopenings. Hope they reopen to Newbiggin one day.
Then there's Pelaw to Washington...
Pelaw to Washington, yep that is the one they need to prioritize. Big prize to be gained there. The population of Washington has pretty much trebled since the original passenger service closed. If they could link it directly into Sunderland as well then that would be even better.
...or the Leamside, Durham line - where locals once sadly watched the lines being ripped up for weeks only to discover it was gangs theiving the track!!
@@michaelthompson3102 The Leamside line is the one from Pelaw through Washington to Ferryhill.
I notice Tim has managed to get away from the London Underground. I reckon you lot hunt in packs. Great vid thanks. Ah he even gets lines. Do you have to pay him now?
That is a secret. 😊
I understand the need to build a new platfromatt Ashington, but it does feel relatively poorly integrated with the town, with no access to the east adn difficult access from the north. A footbridge would much immprove this and I can see this being included in the future, but would it not have been easier to do before the line opened!.
The new Newsham station is a bus ride away from Blyth town centre!!
Hey Geoff, great to see this video i knew would be coming!
I was born in Blyth just over the river from Ashington and Lived there 24 Years. Reopening the line always seemed to get talked about but never got anywhere, to see it finally happen is amazing, even if i am now in North Yorkshire.
Newsham, which you did a video on the construction of, was a stone’s throw from my old house, and Bebside is also very familiar to me, can’t wait to see your videos when those stations open.
Got into your videos through my love of the tube and the railways, but never thought i’d see you at stations so near to my birthplace, but here we are, aren’t Railways Brilliant!
Thank You Geoff :)
thanks Craig !! very kind. i suspect i'll wait for the rest of all the stations on the line to open up now, before i go back ..
@ can’t wait Geoff. Can’t express enough how glad i am of your content, it is always done so well :)
Can you have a look at the new Tyne and Wear metro class 555
I wasn't there today, but I'm one of a slowly decreasing band who travelled from Ashington by rail before the station closed at the end of October 1964. My last trip was a return to Newcastle on 15th October '64, a Thursday, when we were given a day off school because the school was being used as a general election polling station. (Harold Wilson won). The old station, built in red brick with a glass and wrought iron canopy over the southbound platform was a delight to look at, with a welcoming coal fire burning in the waiting room to keep travellers toasted.
Seaton Delaval sounds like the name of an old-fashioned Shakespearean actor.
Funny you should say that. Seaton Delaval Hall is about a mile from the station. It was designed by Vanbrugh who was a playwright as well as an architect, and the Delaval family was famous for putting on plays and other entertainments.
Like many of the aristocracy/landed gentry in England the name was French being De Laval.
Thank you for the video Geoff, it was very interesting. 💕
YESSSS!!!
Another Great Video. Thanks Geoff for your fantastic videos. Don't ever stop.
that's very kind Phil, thank you!
Hi Geoff
Why do new or refurbished stations not have level boarding? It’s great to see new stations being built but it is disappointing for people like myself who struggled to use trains when they have a gap and a height between the train and platform.
The standardised platform height is 915 mm to the best of my knowledge.
It would be level boarding if trains with doorway floors of that height were used, like the Stadler FLIRT trains used on Merseyrail, Greater Anglia and Transport for Wales - and, soon, the Tyne & Wear Metro.
What's needed is to make 915mm boarding height compulsory for all new trains operating only within Britain.
The Class 158s replacement must meet this requirement.
So basically, there is regulations for platform heights but just train manufacturers don’t follow them.
No.....its a new spec platform with a near 35 year old high floor train.....🤷♂️
Always good to see a new station being opened ☺️👏
Pedantry alert - I've spotted a typo on the timetable, second train from Ashington to Seaton Delaval would be arriving at 0648 I would have thought, not 0848 👍
Bit quieter at both stations at 06.30! Nice video as ever, with a star-studded cast!
They could have opened a week earlier! I was up there last weekend and had time on my hands on Monday, but no Ashington train. Went to Hexham instead.
You made the right decision!
2:21 What was the advert where the woman says "Hey they've got a band!" ?
Why does Ashington station have a platform number when it's the only platform? Not like you can get confused looking for platform 1
It's for the railways location identification......
Can you do a series of non-TfL bus services in London? Maybe start off with the LondonLine 702 then the RP1 Royal Parks service in Richmond Park?
weirdly enough, i am doing JUST that in the new year! Spoilers! a non-TfL bus, whom i'm spending the day with ...
( the RP1 is also another good shout, yes! )
It looked like you were surrounded by politicians on that trip. I do hope you didn’t catch anything.
Pair of 156s running on the line on the opening day
A great day indeed - I'm happy this has finally come to fruition, although some of the other stations on the line won't open till later in 2025. I just hope the local population use it fully - if they don't, well, we all know where that ends up. I'd definitely use it to get to Northumberland Park, once that opens, as it might shave off 10-15 mins of getting there via the Metro.
Nice to see Tim Dunn 😊
Ahhhh, missed you, damn it! Will you be coming back when the rest of the line opens?
Its a shame that im not aware of any main news body covering this. I live in wales but i think its fantastic that this money was paid and all these new stations are up and running, i really hope they'll be well used.
The Guardian had a full article.
i managed to find a BBC news story : www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4z1grpr12o
and i'm told that ITV news covered it too, with a short video piece
I managed to get on the 3rd service today. Saw Jen
Seems more of a park and ride for rural northumbia.
2:09 Name that Tune
Gannin along the Scotswood Roooaad.. to see the Blaydon Races ❤
Big up Morpeth massive, great to see you up here Geoffers!
ps it’s Lyne-muth 👍
ha ha, yes! i was worried i'd got that wrong !!!
Ain't that the theme from ITV's TyneTees' "Northern Life" at 2:08?
I thought it was Blaydon Races, unless that was the theme tune to Northern Life?
I'm hoping to do a trip up the line tomorrow
I’d like you return to all the new stations you have covered, say after at least six months of operation, to report on what the station looks like and how busy it seems. Passenger numbers would be great to know although I guess you might have to wait for the end of year report.
Good to have a new railway opening
This is what we need in the uk as railways are safer then driving and you can see wonderful scenery!
🚈🛤️🛤️
Great to see lines being reopened. I just wish they could build stations with just a bit of character instead of these new identikit bus shelter platforms.
Given the number of years this has been in planning why are the residents of the other areas still having to wait months for their stations to be opened.? Just about sums up Network Rail. As someone else has pointed out trains are "run" by Northern so local residents hold off buying season tickets or whatever until you know you have a reliable service.
Because they're still being built? It was planned to open all the stations at once, but individual sites hit delays, unmapped mines, archaeology and unexploded bombs. Better to open some as soon as they're ready and get it into service than wait for the snagging to be complete on the other stations well into 2025.
We've waited 30 years since serious talks about reopening our line, and 60 years since it last carried passangers, we can wait a month or two for Newsham and the rest in 2025.
Listen, they either release what they have now or delay the whole line? Would you have rather waited an extra year or few months if you lived in Ashington? Don't be silly...
You definitely made the right decision not to linger in Ashington!!
Two Northumberland Park stations in the UK then....the other one is in North London if you didn't know.....
It must be big news - Mr Tim Dunn is visiting Ashington! (8:04)
i waiting a few week before i travel on this 'new' line
YES!
FANTASTIC GEOFF.
His name is Geoffrey 😂
yeah, i blame that TIMOTHY for that !! 🤣
Wow!
It would have been a lot nicer to if the DoT hadnt cut the budget so much.
Everything about this is wonderful apart from that unsightly totem! If it ain't broke don't fix it! 😅
"Newcassle"
Need so many more lines to reopen in the NE, same in the NE of Scotland, both areas of their respective countries with disgracefully poor service.
I saw the station still in Ashington about 1988 but they then closed it
It only takes 50 mins from Regent Centre on the X buses, I refer the X21 not X20 OR X22
You might have miss typed as it was long closed in 1988
@ianhudson2193 no it was still there in 1988 but only for freight traffic as it was still under Wilkos at the time it may have been pound stretcher.
I photographed the demolition of Ashington station in May 1968, three and a half years after it closed. It was removed entirely down to ground level. The only remnants visible in 1988 (and onwards) were the station platforms, being increasingly weed-infested.
@MichaelCampin Erm....it wasn't!
I want to know the wild detour on filming Secrets of the London Underground Tim went on to end up in Northumberland
With lots (well a few) of stations and lines being re-instated, you wonder what Dr Beeching would have made of it all.
Given the change in travel patterns since his report 60+ years ago, I don't suppose he'd give a monkeys...
A+
£6 return, insane, it shouldn't be more than £7 a week return ticket, as usual train companies are scamming the vulnerable...
😂😂😂😂😂
Not the case if you use a pop card or day ticket and depends on your age. Young folk can access it for 3 quid and an adult day D zone ticket is about a fiver. That is not a bad price for how quickly it gets you around compared to buses. Even the London Underground costs more.
Yay
That’s if they run NORTHERN are cancelling cos of UNION pressures and NO ONE wants to work on Sundays 🙄🙄🙄
Same with Great Western, Cross Country, etc etc.
AH-HA......The Tory troll surfaces....
@@ianhudson2193 Odd that your comment is the trolling, then!
@andrewhotston983 Get lost Tory boy.....
........no one wants your stirring on a video about a reopening.....
Why not comment on the brutalism of the station architecture, so depressing and bleak.
298 Million pound!!!😳🛤🚅💰💰💰💵💵💵 Good Luck with the Returns.
It's not just about balancing ticket sales with costs. Even relatively small lines or expansion of existing services can have a huge impact on the economy of a local area.
I would say that was pretty cheap to be honest for bringing a railway line back plus how many people can now go further afield from Northumberland to get into work
almost 30,000 people live in Ashington, brilliant for them, the take-up will be fine 👍
Returns cannot be measured by ticket sales. Transportation is a backbone of any functioning local economy.