Northern Offers Free Travel To Bedlington Terrier Owners When Town’s New Station Opens
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail magazine.
These two paragraphs add more details.
Passengers with a famous breed of dog named after Bedlington will be offered free travel when the town’s new station is open. It is the sixth and final new station on the Northumberland Line, which reopened to passengers in December 2024 – for the first time in 60 years.
Around 1.3 million journeys have been made on the route so far, with passengers travelling for work, education, important appointments and fun days out. When the station opens on Sunday, 29 March, it will allow customers to travel into Newcastle in around 30 minutes, with an off-peak single costing just £2.60.
I don’t own a dog anymore, let alone a bedlington terrier, but I had intended to go to the opening of the new Bedlington station tomorrow, but there don’t seem to be any trains between London and Newcastle due to engineering works.
So, it looks like I’ll have to miss out!
Funds Committed To Explore More Rail Expansion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Money has been allocated to develop plans to extend a popular rail route reinstated 15 months ago
These three paragraphs add more details.
Last week, the North East Combined Authority (NECA) committed an initial £2.5m to a dedicated Rail Development Fund, which included plans to expand the Northumberland Line.
Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said he hoped planning applications for the line’s extension to Newbiggin-on-Sea could be submitted by 2028 and suggested a station could be added to serve Wansbeck General Hospital.
The funding would be used to “accelerate rail‑related scheme development across the region” including a plan to reopen Ferryhill Station in County Durham as part of the Leamside Line.
This would appear to be most of what campaigners want.
Will Northumberland Line Success Help More Open?
The title of this post, is the same as this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
On 29 March the final station, Bedlington, opens on the Northumberland Line marking the completion of the project to reopen the route from Newcastle to Ashington.
These three paragraphs add detail to the story.
With passenger numbers exceeding predictions, could its success give new impetus to other projects to reopen former railways across northern England?
Dennis Fancett, chair of the rail users group Senrug, which campaigned for the Northumberland line for 20 years, hopes so.
He believes the obvious next step is to extend it along the existing freight tracks to a new station at Woodhorn and from there to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
I believe that the Northumberland Line is following a pattern, that I call London Overground Syndrome.
Opening Date For Final Delayed Station Confirmed
The title of this post is the same as that in this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The opening date for the final station on a reopened railway line has finally been announced.
These four paragraphs give more details.
The Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle began carrying passengers in December 2024, decades after the old service ended, but Bedlington and Northumberland Park stations remained unfinished.
It was announced in January Northumberland Park would open on 22 February, and now Northumberland County Council has announced Bedlington will officially open to passengers on 29 March.
Conservative leader Glen Sanderson thanked the local community for bearing with the “inevitable disruption”.
The overdue opening of Bedlington was blamed on ageing stonework and a water pipe under the car park, and in August an extra £37.9m was provided to ensure the project was completed.
Will It Be The Day Of The Dogs?
I wonder how many Bedlington terriers will turn up!
I asked Google AI,”Will Bedlington Terriers be going to the opening of Bedlington station?” and received this reply.
Based on current information, it is not confirmed whether the dog breed Bedlington Terriers will be attending the opening of the new Bedlington station, which is expected to open in early 2026 as part of the Northumberland Line. While the town is famous for the breed, no official event details have confirmed their presence at the opening.
If they did, the story would spread everywhere.
Will The Builders Move On To The Leamside Line?
The Leamside Line could be the next one to be rebuilt, as it’s just on the other side of the Tyne.
Or they could extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
But who knows with this Government?
Formal Bid To Extend Railway Line
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A formal bid to extend a railway line which has seen more than 900,000 passenger journeys in the year since it reopened has been submitted.
These three paragraphs add more detail.
Northumberland County Council asked the North East Combined Authority to extend the Northumberland Line, which connects south-east Northumberland to Tyneside, to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
Conservative leader of the council Glen Sanderson said the total cost of the scheme was yet to be worked out, adding: “It is going to be very expensive, but I’m sure it will be worthwhile.”
Labour North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she would like to see the line extended further into the county. She said: “We’ll support a business case to see what is possible.”
I wrote more about this extension in Onward To Newbiggin-by-the-Sea For The Northumberland Line?
I certainly believe it is an extension, that should be properly costed.
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.
The Anonymous Widower 