The Anonymous Widower

50,000 Journeys Made On Northumberland Line In First Month

The title of this post is the same as that of this press release on the Northumberland County County.

These are the first few paragraphs of the press release.

Passengers have made more than 50,000 journeys on Northumberland Line services in the first month after the opening.

The line reopened to passengers – for the first time in 60 years – in December, thanks to a £298.5m project involving the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Northumberland County Council and Northern.

Services now call at Newcastle, Manors, Seaton Delaval and Ashington, with a journey along the entire 18-mile route taking around 35 minutes and a single ticket costing no more than £3.

Tickets for more than 50,000 journeys have been bought since the opening and Saturdays have been particularly popular.

That includes more than 3,500 journeys made on the opening day (Sunday, 15 December), when the platform in Ashington was packed with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the first service.

That is what I would call a good start.

But after I wrote Dartmoor Line Passes 250,000 Journeys On Its First Anniversary, As Rail Minister Visits To Mark Official Opening Of The Station Building, a year after that line opened, I don’t think 50,000 for the Northumberland line is a high figure.

At 50,000 in the first month with only four stations, they must be on course for well over half a million passengers, when the line is fully open.

Figures like these show that enthusiasts for rail closures like Richard Beeching and Harold Wilson were so very wrong.

We need several reopened and new railway lines like this!

January 16, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Ashington Station, Beeching, Harold Wilson, Northern Trains, Northumberland Line (Newcastle And Ashington/Blyth)