Six new railway stations are to be built between Newcastle and Morpeth and 18 miles of track are to be upgraded as part of Northumberland County Council effort to ‘restore lost rail services’.
The scheme, proposed by Northumberland County Council, has been made possible thanks to the Government’s Restoring Your Railway Fund, which offered development funding to explore options to restore rail services connections to communities.
Earlier this year the Department for Transport provided £34m towards design and preparatory works which, subject to funding for the delivery of the full scheme being confirmed by the Government, and the recently submitted Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application being approved, will allow for the reintroduction of a regular rail passenger service between Ashington and central Newcastle.
‘Passenger services on the Northumberland Line will provide a huge economic boost in South East Northumberland and beyond, improve transport links, attract more visitors, and support growth sectors,’ said Cllr Glen Sanderson, leader of Northumberland County Council.
‘It will also help to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions, contributing greatly to our climate change targets in Northumberland.’
Cllr Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee, commented: ‘The Northumberland Line will be a wonderful asset for local people and helps us take further steps to encourage people out of their cars and onto cleaner, more sustainable forms of transport.’
