I rode the first train on the Northumberland Line which will open next …

It's a gloomy and grey day as the first passenger train on the much-anticipated Northumberland Line pulls out of Newcastle Central Station.

As of summer 2024 this is the route that many commuters who live in South East Northumberland will have on their way home. Today's journey is the first complete journey on the line with passengers (a trial for a select group of passengers took place in 2021[1]) and a familiarisation exercise for drivers of Northern's Class 158 trains.

Though the line's opening has been pushed back from later this year, work is said to be progressing smoothly and will see six new stations built and 18 miles of track upgraded, providing a twice-an-hour service between Ashington and Newcastle. And at 11.15 on Wednesday, a passenger train took to the line for the first time since the sixties.

The 11.15 train ambles out of Newcastle Central Station passing the city's landmarks that Geordies all know and love. The Tyne Bridge, Newcastle Castle, The Sage Gateshead and the Millennium Bridge look superb even on a grim, grey day - at least until a TransPennine Express train blocks all of that.

We rumble along over Byker Bridge, passing Ouseburn on a route that will be familiar to anyone who is a regular on the East Coast Mainline. We stop to let a fast train past at the Benton North Junction, opening a window onto Newcastle's training ground, where players are pinging the ball around in their blue training kits but are too far away to identify.

It's not far after this point that we leave the East Coast Mainline for the first stop - Northumberland Park. Combined rail/metro tickets could give easier access to much of Tyne and Wear for those in South East Northumberland, who will change here if they can't wait until Central Station.

We continue on towards stations and Seaton Delaval and Newsham, from which wind turbines rotate lazily as they poke out of the iron-grey North Sea. The landscape shifts farms to flats, cottages to new builds, allotments to fields - some of which are dotted with horses.

Around Blyth Bebside, it gets more industrial. At one point we cross a bridge running parallel with the Spine Road, opening up a striking view of the port.

Then the rails run right by the road, with an American diner that looks like the real deal but seems oddly out of place. From the Barrington Industrial Estate workmen wave, and entering Bedlington a man smoking out the window gives the train a thumbs up.

Railway workers in Bedlington Railway workers in Bedlington

A queue of cars waits at a level crossing, orange-clad workers continue plugging away at Bedlington Station. The buildings flatten out into fields as we reconnect to the East Coast Mainline at Morpeth and turn back on ourselves.

It's a slow journey and it's not clear if that's due to the driver familiarising themselves with the route or lower speed limits as the train powers through more built up areas. It's also an enjoyable one, with a constant chatter of excitement on the new journey, and the bustle of people moving around the train.

Some of my travel companions on the first journey already know the area inside out from many years on the railways. Dennis Christison worked in the signal box at South Newsham, until the 2000s and that he lived for trains and that it was "special" to be on the first journey.

He told me: "When the coal trains were running, Northumberland was a hive of activity. There was never a time there wasn't a train buzzing around, but the demise of the coal industry hit hard. Hopefully, this is going to be a revival."

He was travelling with his daughter Beaula, who has followed in his footsteps onto the trains working as a customer service advisor for Grand Central. She said it was "nostalgic" to pass the home where she grew up and the signal box where her dad had worked.

Dennis Christison and his daughter Beaula Dennis Christison and his daughter Beaula

I also spoke to a couple from South Newsham, who had more than 60 years experience working on the railways. Betty and Stephen Greener were childhood sweethearts and Betty managed Morpeth station while Stephen was a driver.

Betty said: "This is the first time we've ever been through Newsham on a passenger train. It's amazing."

Betty and Stephen Greener Betty and Stephen Greener

The Northumberland Line may have the stunning vistas of its counterpart that travels on further north of the county, but there is clearly a lot of life surrounding it. Much of Northumberland's population is concentrated in the south east of the county, with 100,000 people estimated to live within three miles of the line - and it is those communities who those behind the project hope will benefit from it the most.

However, we still have a while to wait before we start seeing the impacts on the economy that have been promised by the Government and Northumberland County Council. Let's see what summer 2024 brings.

References

  1. ^ a trial for a select group of passengers took place in 2021 (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
  2. ^ Major track works complete in Ashington as work on Northumberland Line continues (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)

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