A Trip To The Northumberland Line – 7th November 2025
On Friday, I went to Newcastle to have a look at the new Blyth Bebside station.
I took these pictures between Newcastle and Ashington stations.
Note.
- The impressive slim bridge over the railway at Newsham station. Other places could imitate this. See Bicester Village Station – 28th May 2025.
- The well-filled car park at Newsham station.
- The large amount of new housing.
- The recently-opened Blyth Bebside station.
- The crossing of the River Blyth.
- The under-construction Bedlington station.
- The crossing of the River Wansbeck.
- The single platform Ashington station.
- The train took 36 minutes for the 18 miles.
- According to staff, there is no hostelry close to the station at Ashington, but there is a good gluten-free pub at Seaton Delaval station, that I wrote about in Seaton Delaval Station – 30th March 2025.
I then returned to Blyth Bebside station and took these pictures.
Note.
- Blyth Bebside station is fully step-free.
- There is a sizable car park.
- The wind turbines of Blyth Harbour wind farm can be seen in the distance from the station bridge.
- I estimate the platforms at the station will take a five-car Hitachi Class 802 train or a pair of two-car Class 158 trains.
These are some further thoughts.
The Platforms On The Northumberland Line Are Long
Consider.
- As I said earlier the platforms in the stations appear to be long enough to handle a five-car Hitachi Class 802 train or a pair of two-car Class 158 trains.
- From what some have said about the line, I suspect four-car trains will be needed soon for Newcastle matches.
- But would this be enough, if a local hero like Sting decided to have a Summer concert on the beach?
- Lengthening platforms is often a pain, if you don’t make them long enough.
So were Network Rail just making sure that the track was fit for all eventualities?
Could The Northumberland Line Be Electrified?
These pictures show Platform 1 at Newcastle station, where Northumberland Line trains usually terminate at Newcastle.
Note.
I Shall Be Going To The Opening Of Blyth Bebside Station On Sunday, the 19th October
In Railway Station Opening Date Announced, I said that Blyth Bebside station will open on October 19th.
I intend to go and add my travel times, when I book tickets.
Should New Stations Be Shown On Google Maps With Opening Dates?
I recently posted a comment on The Times recently, where I suggested a guy was opening one of his coffee shops in a town, that was getting a new railway station.
Another, who commented, suggested that I look at Google Maps to see their relative positions.
The coffee shop was shown, but the station wasn’t.
Surely, once the position of the station is known, it should be marked on Google Maps with an opening date, as this could help people take important decisions about their life.
Blyth Bebside station on the new Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington is already shown with the familiar logo, despite not opening until the 19th of October.
The other two unopened stations on the line, which are Northumberland Park and Bedlington, are going to open next year, are also shown with familiar logos, but no opening date.
Someone in Network Rail, needs to be given the responsibility to make sure that details like this are correct.
In the case of Blyth Bebside station, I can see two different captions indicating the station on Google Maps.
- Before October 19th 2025 – Blyth Bebside – Opens 19th Octopber 2025.
- After October 19th 2025 – Blyth Bebside – Opened 19th Octopber 2025.
Detailed labeling may even help deliveries during construction.
Railway Station Opening Date Announced
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A date has been announced for the latest station to be completed on a new railway line.
These two introductory paragraphs add more details.
Blyth Bebside, on the Northumberland Line, will be opening on 19 October and only two stations remain before the line is fully operational.
The final stations at Bedlington and Northumberland Park are due to open in early 2026.
I shall be going for the opening of the new station, if I can get a Lumo both ways.
£10bn Investment In AI Data Centre Confirmed
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This was the sub-heading.
A £10bn investment in a new artificial intelligence data centre will create about 4,000 jobs, the government has said.
These two paragraphs add more details.
The site in Cambois, near Blyth, Northumberland, will become one of Europe’s biggest AI data centres.
The land was bought by private equity giant Blackstone earlier this year, after the collapse of Britishvolt which had planned to build an electric car battery factory on the site.
In My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024, I said this after my first trip to the line.
The Blyth Valley Is Well Supplied With Electricity
Several high-capacity connections to wind farms and Norway are planned to come ashore at Blyth and it appears from the pictures that the area is well connected to the grid.
This must have nudged Britishvolt to put their battery plant at Blyth.
But no matter for those jobs, as with a rail service to Greater Geordieland and lots of electricity, there must be other energy-hungry businesses like datacentres or small modular reactor factories, who would want the site.
The Long Platforms
I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long and can carry around 400 passengers.
This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.
Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.
It looks to me, that the Northumberland line was designed for large factories or businesses with lots of workers, that needed lots of electricity.
Northumberland Line Station Contracts Are Signed
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Nexus.
These are the first three paragraphs.
The signs are good for the new Northumberland rail line after the green light was given for construction to get underway on three new stations.
Contracts have been exchanged for principal contractor Morgan Sindall Infrastructure to formally start work on Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Seaton Delaval stations.
Main construction works are progressing at pace, with station works well underway at Newsham and works approaching completion in Ashington, and 21km of new track is already installed.
It certainly looks like it’s all systems go.
I hope Network Rail have the next reopening ready to go!
Northumberland Line: Construction Of New Stations To Begin
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The construction of three stations for a new Northumberland rail line is set to begin.beec
These are the first three paragraphs.
Northumberland County Council said contracts had been exchanged for work to start on Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Seaton Delaval Stations.
The project is described as a “key milestone” to restore passenger services lost in the 1960s.
It is planned to run a half-hourly passenger service along the 18-mile (29km) lines.
It certainly seems that the reopening of this line is progressing.
Northumberland Line On Track As Approval Granted
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first three paragraphs.
A new rail line in Northumberland – including six new stations – is on track after getting ministers’ support.
The aim is to open the stations and upgrade track between Newcastle and Ashington by December 2023.
Following an inquiry, the government has granted a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) authorising the closure of level crossings and purchase of land.
Northumberland Council said it was a “key milestone”.
These two paragraphs describe the project.
Construction work on the line is due to start this summer.
It is planned to run a half-hourly passenger service along the 18-mile line, stopping at Bedlington, Blyth, Bebside, Newsham, Seaton Delaval and Northumberland Park Metro station.
We need more rail reopening like this to level-up the country.
Two More Stations For The Northumberland Line Are Approved
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Northumberland Post Leader.
- Northumberland Park and Ashington stations have already been approved.
- Bedlington and Seaton Delaval stations have just been approved.
- That leaves Bebside and Newsham to be approved.
It could soon be all systems go for the builders.
A New Reston Station
This page on the Scotland’s Railway web site, gives an overview of the project to build a new Reston station on the East Coast Main line about 3.5 miles North of Berwick-upon-Tweed station.
This is the project summary given on the web page.
Network Rail has developed proposals to create a new station at Reston in the Scottish Borders.
We worked with local partners and stakeholders to develop plans for the station and liaised with the local community in advance of submitting a planning application to Scottish Borders Council.
Planning consent was granted in February 2021 and the team are gearing up to deliver a challenging programme of work to create the new station.
The page also says that work on the station started in March 2021. Certainly, by May 2021, there was quite a bit happening.
This Google Map shows the village of Reston.
Note.
- The A1 running East-West at the top of the map.
- Main Street running East-West across the middle of the map.
- The East Coast Main Line runs North West-South East across the South-West corner of the map.
The station would appear to be East of the road called The Orchard.
Station Facilities
Looking at the video the station appears to have the following facilities.
- Two platforms.
- About seventy car-parking spaces, which is designed to be expanded
- Five disabled car-parking spaces.
- Electric car charging.
- Bicycle storage
- Full step-free access, at the South-Eastern end of the station.
There does not appear to be any avoiding line for freight trains or a bay platform to reverse trains.
But there appear to be a pair of crossovers to the North of the station site.
Distances Between Reston Station And Selected Towns
This are road distances between Reston station and selected towns.
- Duns – 10 miles
- Galashiels – 38 miles
- Hawick – 47 miles
- Kelso – 26 miles
Are there plans for new housing in the area?
Services Between Newcastle And Edinburgh
The following services run between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
- CrossCountry – 1 tph – Plymouth and Edinburgh/Glasgow – Stops at Alnmouth (irregular), Berwick-upon-Tweed (irregular), Dunbar (1tp2h)
- East Coast Trains – 5 tpd – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh – Stops at Morpeth
- LNER – 1 tph – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh – Stops at Berwick-upon-Tweed
- LNER – 1 tph – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh – Stops at Alnmouth (1tp2h)
- TransPennine Express – 1 tph – Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh – Stops at Morpeth
Note.
- tpd is trains per day.
- tph is trains per hour.
- tp2h is trains per two hours.
- All services are run by 125 mph trains
- All services stop at Edinburgh and Newcastle.
- A typical service averages around 88.9 mph between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
The timetable appears to be arranged to ensure at least 4 tph between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
I have a few thoughts.
How Many Services Should Call At Reston?
On an urban line, stopping frequencies of services of up to four or even six tph are common, which would probably be in excess of what is needed at Reston.
Most rural main or secondary lines have frequencies of one or two tph.
I would suggest that if you’re designing and building a station, that will cost several million pounds, then the station must have at least an hourly service, but that two tph would be much more preferable.
In an ideal world, there might be two tph.
- A slow train that stopped at all the larger stations, which could include East Linton, Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Almouth and Morpeth.
- A fast train that stopped just once at Reston station between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
Note.
- Like Reston station, East Linton station is also under construction.
- Reston station, is likely to have a selection of buses to Galashiels and other towns in the Borders.
- Reston station has space for a sensible amount of parking.
I would also expect bus and train services to obey these conditions.
- Be timetabled to arrive and leave at the same time each hour.
- Run from early until late.
- Provide an easy interchange, so that travellers don’t have to endure too much unfriendly weather.
- Have a comprehensive ticketing system to attract passengers.
I also think that a warm waiting room and cafe should be provided.
Will Reston Station Have A Direct Service To London And The South?
Both of LNER’s services between Edinburgh and London call at York, Darlington and Newcastle, with only one service calling at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
This Google Map shows the location of Berwick-upon-Tweed station.
Note.
- The long island platform between the tracks.
- There are 124 parking spaces.
- The A1 is some distance away to the West.
It all looks very cramped.
So if, one of LNER’s London services stopped at Reston, would it be better for all travellers and operators.
I would suggest that it would probably be ideal if one of LNER’s two services stopped at Berwick-on-Tweed and the other stopped at Reston.
It would also probably be a good idea for ticketing to consider Reston as a Berwick-on-Tweed station.
Will ERTMS Signalling Be Used Between Edinburgh and Newcastle?
I don’t think this is a question of will, but more one of when.
- It will enable trains to run at up to 140 mph.
- It will handle trains efficiently, when they are running at different speeds.
- It will allow the increasing of the frequency of trains on the double-track route.
- All trains on the route will probably be fitted with equipment to run under in-cab digital ERTMS signalling in a few years.
I would expect that ERTMS signalling could be used to run an increasingly complex pattern of trains between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
Will There Be 140 mph Running Between Edinburgh and Newcastle?
I have flown my helicopter along the route between Edinburgh and Newcastle and ridden it in a 125 mph train many times.
Given how Network Rail have squeezed increased speeds out of routes like the Midland Main and Great Eastern Main Line, I have no doubt that some 140 mph running will be possible between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
I estimate that with a substantial amount of 140 mph running between Edinburgh and Berwick-on-Tweed could save as much as fifteen minutes on current timings.
What Trains Will Be Used Between Edinburgh and Newcastle?
Consider.
- It is a fully-electrified double-track railway.
- There will be 125 mph and possibly 140 mph express trains passing through.
I suspect that to avoid getting in the way of the expresses, trains with at least a 110 mph capability would be needed.
Some of the redundant Class 350 trains would probably do fine.
How Will LNER’s Extra Paths Affect Trains Between Edinburgh and Newcastle?
In the December 2020 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article, which is entitled LNER Seeks 10 More Bi-Modes.
This is the last paragraph.
Infrastructure upgrades are due to prompt a timetable recast in May 2022 (delayed from December 2022), from which point LNER will operate 6.5 trains per hour out of King’s Cross, compared to five today. As an interim measure LNER is retaining seven rakes of Mk. 4 coaches hauled by 12 Class 91 locomotives to supplement the Azuma fleet and support its timetable ambitions until new trains are delivered.
In A New Elizabethan, I suggest that one of these extra paths could be used to run a third hourly service between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.
I would think it likely, that it only would only stop at Newcastle, if it provided a fast service between the two capitals.
Is Reston Station About Borders Unemployment?
This post has been up for a few days now and there have been comments about the cost of this station and the more-than-adequate car-parking provision for the small villages.
This article on the Southern Reporter is entitled Unemployment In Borders Up Almost 120% Year On Year.
Could it be that one of the purposes with its expandable car-parking is to allow people to get to jobs in Edinburgh and Newcastle?
- It should also be noted that Britishvolt are planning to build a £4 billion battery factory at Blyth, which according to reports will employ between three and five thousand people.
- It is a distance of seventy miles and Google says it will take nearly an hour-and-a-half.
- I suspect a 110 mph train between Reston and Bebside stations on the Northumberland Line would take about forty-five minutes.
- Bebside station is on the Northumberland Line and will have a shuttle bus to the Britishvolt factory.
- Porterbrook are developing a battery/FLEX version of their 110 mph Class 350 trains.
By choosing to build a station will the possibility of large amounts of parking are the Scottish Government doing the best for the unemployed in the Borders?
You can imagine a scenario in the employment office at Britishvolt.
- They are getting a lot of letters and e-mails asking about jobs.
- Someone does a bit of counting and realises their planned car-park is too small.
- Problems are outlined to ministers in the UK and Scottish Governments.
- The reopening of the Northumberland Line and the building of Reston station do appear to have been accelerated.
Perhaps the rail developments are a small price for both governments to pay to secure a £4 billion investment,
Conclusion
There’s a lot more to Reston station, than first appears.
The Anonymous Widower 