The incredible £166m project for six new train stations connecting major UK city
Three stations are scheduled to open this summer linking up a part of the country that's been cut off of passenger rail for 60 years.
Six brand new railway stations are being built to link towns with Newcastle by passenger train for the first time in 60 years.
The project is costing an estimated £166m and will see trains travel from Ashington through a number of towns before terminating at Newcastle.
Three of the stations are scheduled to open this summer - including Ashington, Newsham and Seaton Delaval. Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park are due to open at a later date, with the whole route called The Northumberland Line.
The service will run twice an hour in both directions and the total journey time from Ashington at the northern end of the line to Newcastle at the southern end will take 35 minutes.
The railway between Ashington and Newcastle used to run both passenger and freight services until the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Since then, only freight trains have continued to use the line, primarily serving Lynemouth Power Station.
It's hoped the Northumberland Line will stimulate and support economic growth and improve transport links for local people and businesses.
A Northumberland Line project spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “The re-introduction of passenger services later this summer for the Northumberland Line is the culmination of an ambitious project involving Northumberland County Council, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Northern.
“Ashington, Newsham and Seaton Delaval stations are nearing completion and will be the first to open – with a journey along the entire route to Newcastle taking around 35 minutes.
“Stations in Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park remain under construction and are due to open for customers travelling on the Line next year.
“Along with the stations, huge amounts of engineering and infrastructure work have taken place to replace track and install state-of-the-art signalling for the new service.”
Don't miss...
Amazing £4.7m train lines linking European cities - promotional tickets from £6 [LATEST]
Incredible new £106bn line with 220mph trains that will link beautiful cities [REPORT]
Incredible £55m mega-project to slash train journey times to major UK cities [REVEALED]
Most of the project work will need to be carried out at night, when trains aren’t running and electrical sections of the track can be isolated.
Express.co.uk has previously reported on the huge infrastructure project and included a comment from Mark Ellis, senior programme officer, at Northumberland County Council who was talking to Geoff Marshall - a railway YouTuber.
He said: “I mean one of the benefits of the line is that it's going to improve connectivity from south-east Northumberland towards Newcastle.
“And also with the connection with the Tyne and Wear Metro at Northumberland Park, that'll make journeys a lot easier for residents of south-east Northumberland to commute into Newcastle.
“But equally, it's going to make access into south-east Northumberland a lot easier for people, which is one of the aims of the line: to increase economic development in south-east Northumberland.”
