Northumberland Line reopening: progress updates

[swt_passenger]

I see on the Northumberland Line website there are overnight level crossing closures at North Seaton, (7th Dec), and Marchey’s House, (14th Dec), for work ‘to complete the upgrade’. Taking it right to the wire?

eg for Marchey’s House:

We will be undertaking works to complete the upgrade of the level crossing on Wansbeck Terrace, ahead of the reopening of the line to passenger trains later this year. The works will be undertaken from 10:00pm Saturday 14 December to 7am Sunday 15 December in the area shown below.

News | Northumberland Line

www.northumberlandline.uk

 

[Acfb]

Not sure what you're getting at as, when passenger services start Seaton Delaval will be open?

Sorry, I was referring to the other stations particularly Newsham etc although hopefully that will come soon in the new year. The line itself particularly the North Seaton Viaduct etc looks more interesting than the immediate places it serves even if I have some curiosity about Blyth in particular having never been there. I've never been on the Tyne and Wear Metro as well either so I'm wondering if I should get a Nexus Pop Card and really make a day of it in Tyne and Wear once all the stations are open.

I tried putting Edinburgh to Ashington in the LNER booking engine but it didn't work for some reason although it did for Morpeth to Ashington.

 

[londonbridge]

So if Pop PAYG will be valid, will we see the equivalent of OSI’s, for instance tap in at Ashington, tap out at Central, then tap in again on the metro to, say, Pelaw and get charged one through fare? And what about using PAYG on Northern between Central and Heworth/Sunderland, would that now be valid?

 

[swt_passenger]

So if Pop PAYG will be valid, will we see the equivalent of OSI’s, for instance tap in at Ashington, tap out at Central, then tap in again on the metro to, say, Pelaw and get charged one through fare? And what about using PAYG on Northern between Central and Heworth/Sunderland, would that now be valid?

Please see here for an earlier discussion:

Northumberland Line to be re-opened to passengers

Wouldn't have thought the Northumberland Line would take a lot of Great North Run traffic anyway. Mostly the Metro core that sees the biggest hit on run day. As I intend to be up for GNR weekend I'd like to sample both a new Metro unit and the Northumberland line. Maybe both on a later trip at...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[androdas]

I see on the Northumberland Line website there are overnight level crossing closures at North Seaton, (7th Dec), and Marchey’s House, (14th Dec), for work ‘to complete the upgrade’. Taking it right to the wire?

eg for Marchey’s House:

Im not sure what they are doing but there doesnt seem much to upgrade at these crossings. They are working without crossing keepers and the route learning trains, freight and even the Network Rail HST this afternoon all seem to be passing through at line speed. It seems they use the 'complete the upgrade' line for all the closures, I got a 'Dear Railway Neighbour' letter about the Marcheys House closure and that had no more detail in it apart from saying whatever they are doing may be noisy.

 

[507020]

I really hope that Northern are going to thrown the kitchen sink at making sure it runs come what may

It’s a dedicated train crew depot at Ashington, so in terms of staffing (perhaps Northern’s biggest weakness) what else are they going to do but ensure it runs? They aren’t doing nothing or expecting it to be resourced from outside, stretching existing resources.

If only there was an obvious opening date.

 

[Sox]

According to Rail Journey Planner, the first service from Newcastle to Ashington runs Friday 27th December 2024.

NCL to ASL

 

[duffield]

According to Rail Journey Planner, the first service from Newcastle to Ashington runs Friday 27th December 2024.

NCL to ASL

You can buy tickets via National Rail for Newcastle to Ashington starting Sunday 15th, timetable change day.

Edit: No you can't. National Rail offers them for 15th December, but when you try to actually buy them it then redirects to Northern's website which then says "no services".

 

[Anvil1984]

It’s a dedicated train crew depot at Ashington, so in terms of staffing (perhaps Northern’s biggest weakness) what else are they going to do but ensure it runs? They aren’t doing nothing or expecting it to be resourced from outside, stretching existing resources.

If only there was an obvious opening date.

Don’t know what you mean by dedicated train crew depot. It’s a small conductors depot with work shared between them and Newcastle. All drivers are from Newcastle depot. Northern have also been struggling for units so that may be an issue

That being said. Expect the line to open on 15th December obviously TBC with just Newcastle, Manors, Seaton Delaval and Ashington being open. Anyone with a keen eye on Real Time Trains will see a lot of STP services on Monday 9th/ Thursday 12th (described if you click on it as “runs MTh only” on those dates) This could be a dry run of the timetable without passengers, however that’s not gospel

 

[yorkie]

You can buy tickets via National Rail for Newcastle to Ashington starting Sunday 15th, timetable change day.

Edit: No you can't. National Rail offers them for 15th December, but when you try to actually buy them it then redirects to Northern's website which then says "no services".

NRE does not sell tickets; it redirects to a TOC site (with no regard for whether that site can actually fulfil the request!)

 

[Killingworth]

It’s a dedicated train crew depot at Ashington, so in terms of staffing (perhaps Northern’s biggest weakness) what else are they going to do but ensure it runs? They aren’t doing nothing or expecting it to be resourced from outside, stretching existing resources.

If only there was an obvious opening date.

Tickets can be booked from Sunday 15th December. I've just bought a single through the TPE website, although I won't count on being able to use it.

Although it may not run in service those on last Wednesday's two special invitation trains saw that it was ready to operate from end to end. Sadness is that only Seaton Delaval and Manors are available to stop at en route - and most trains don't stop at Manors anyway.

Newsham and Bedlington looked fairly near ready, maybe by February? It was rather wet so we couldn't see too clearly. Bebside looks like a summer completion possibility. Northumberland Park could drag into 2026!

 

[Anvil1984]

Tickets can be booked from Sunday 15th December. I've just bought a single through the TPE website, although I won't count on being able to use it.

Although it may not run in service those on last Wednesday's two special invitation trains saw that it was ready to operate from end to end. Sadness is that only Seaton Delaval and Manors are available to stop at en route - and most trains don't stop at Manors anyway.

Newsham and Bedlington looked fairly near ready, maybe by February? It was rather wet so we couldn't see too clearly. Bebside looks like a summer completion possibility. Northumberland Park could drag into 2026!

Bedlington is still pretty much a hole in the ground, that will be last or second to last. Expect Newsham in late Jan / Feb, followed by Bebside soon after then in the distant future Bedlington then Northumberland Park

 

[omnicity4659]

What rights do people have if they buy tickets but can’t use them? The journey planner has allowed it, and there’s no expectation for anyone to be reading Northumberland Council’s press releases when booking their train travel…

 

[londonbridge]

Just a refund I’d assume.

 

[swt_passenger]

Although it may not run in service those on last Wednesday's two special invitation trains saw that it was ready to operate from end to end. Sadness is that only Seaton Delaval and Manors are available to stop at en route - and most trains don't stop at Manors anyway.

I thought it was 50% that stopped at Manors, as came out in previous discussions? That‘s what RTT looks like.

 

[themiller]

What rights do people have if they buy tickets but can’t use them? The journey planner has allowed it, and there’s no expectation for anyone to be reading Northumberland Council’s press releases when booking their train travel…

Put in a delay repay claim and opt for a Northern travel voucher - win, win.

 

[androdas]

I thought it was 50% that stopped at Manors, as came out in previous discussions? That‘s what RTT looks like.

Looking at RTT, the approximately xx:15 departures from Newcastle stop at Manors but the approx. xx:45 departures are first stop Seaton Delaval (Northumberland Park eventually) and returning its the approx. xx:30 from Ashington that stops there and the approx. xx:00 that doesn't. It does seem there are some exceptions in the morning peak though.

The Carlisle to Morpeth and the Chathill flyer also stop there so it should be getting quite a reasonable service in the new year, Manors is never going to be back to its heyday as the Metro took the vast majority of its traffic in the early eighties but with the amount of development in that area of the city along with the increased service its probably in the strongest position it has been in for some time.

 

[swt_passenger]

Im not sure what they are doing but there doesnt seem much to upgrade at these crossings. They are working without crossing keepers and the route learning trains, freight and even the Network Rail HST this afternoon all seem to be passing through at line speed. It seems they use the 'complete the upgrade' line for all the closures, I got a 'Dear Railway Neighbour' letter about the Marcheys House closure and that had no more detail in it apart from saying whatever they are doing may be noisy.

Ah thanks, that sounds better. I take the point about them using a sort of standard wording.

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

It is now confirmed through various outlets and social media that the line will open on Sunday 15th December.

Northumberland Line opening date confirmed

Services on the Northumberland Line will begin this month, with one intermediate station opening at first

www.railmagazine.com

 

[Killingworth]

I thought it was 50% that stopped at Manors, as came out in previous discussions? That‘s what RTT looks like.

That's about right although earlier indications were it would be less, maybe even none! At least it's a stop at a completed station and makes it more of a service on opening day.

Manors, the station I recall with about 9 platforms (5 in regular use) is now a sad and forlorn island platform hidden away and all but ignored. I hope it gets more use with the extra trains stopping there.

 

[ainsworth74]

It is now confirmed through various outlets and social media that the line will open on Sunday 15th December.

Northumberland Line opening date confirmed

Services on the Northumberland Line will begin this month, with one intermediate station opening at first

www.railmagazine.com

Good news!

Manors, the station I recall with about 9 platforms (5 in regular use) is now a sad and forlorn island platform hidden away and all but ignored. I hope it gets more use with the extra trains stopping there.

Whereas I hope someone eventually grows a pair and closes the station entirely in favour of the TW Metro station! But that's probably a topic for another thread

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

Looking at RTT, the approximately xx:15 departures from Newcastle stop at Manors but the approx. xx:45 departures are first stop Seaton Delaval (Northumberland Park eventually) and returning its the approx. xx:30 from Ashington that stops there and the approx. xx:00 that doesn't. It does seem there are some exceptions in the morning peak though.

The Carlisle to Morpeth and the Chathill flyer also stop there so it should be getting quite a reasonable service in the new year, Manors is never going to be back to its heyday as the Metro took the vast majority of its traffic in the early eighties but with the amount of development in that area of the city along with the increased service its probably in the strongest position it has been in for some time.

It does get a reasonable amount of use from local students going to Northumbria Uni and the return Chathill Fyler in the morning dumps a fair few out there.

 

[swt_passenger]

The Northumberland Line version of the announcement is online. It includes a line about tickets will be available from one week ahead, which is presumably why sales and timetable sites are so variable?

The Northumberland Line will launch its first passenger services from Sunday, December 15th 2024.

Teams have been working tirelessly in challenging conditions and tackling complex engineering challenges so that for the first time in more than 60 years, the public can start using the line again before Christmas.

Scores of train drivers and conductors have carried out intensive training and hundreds of test journeys have been carried out along the 18-mile stretch of new and upgraded line connecting south east Northumberland to Newcastle city centre – to ensure services are safe, regular and reliable from day-one.

To meet the commitment to run trains this year, Ashington and Seaton Delaval Stations will open initially. Newsham Station will open early in the New Year, with the remaining three stations at Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park scheduled to open next year.

Tickets are expected to go on sale the week before launch at https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/

Opening Date Announced for the Northumberland Line

The Northumberland Line will launch its first passenger services from Sunday, December 15th 2024. Teams have been working tirelessly in challenging conditions and tackling complex engineering challenges so that for the first time in more than 60 years, the public can start using the line again...

www.northumberlandline.uk

 

[a_c_skinner]

BBC News says first train on Sunday 15th December, with apologies if this is well known. On Look North.

BBC News

Passenger trains will begin running on a railway for the first time in 60 years on the 15 December, it has been confirmed.
The Northumberland Line will operate between Ashington and Newcastle, calling at Seaton Delaval and Manors.
Four more stations, which have not been completed in time, will open in 2025.
Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: "This is a truly groundbreaking project of national importance that has been talked about almost since the line was closed for passengers over 60 years ago."

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Is the timetable compatible with the Dec 25 ECML rewrite or will this one also have to be amended?

 

[Willie Bee]

I see from the Northumberlandline website .. "Tickets will go on sale from Monday 9th December on the Northern App or website"

 

[Killingworth]

I see from the Northumberlandline website .. "Tickets will go on sale from Monday 9th December on the Northern App or website"

Old news, they've been available for days from TPE.

 

[duffield]

Old news, they've been available for days from TPE.

Yes, it's pretty bizarre. Northern should have been the first, not the last to be selling them.

I expect there's some technical reason though.

 

[zero]

Yes, it's pretty bizarre. Northern should have been the first, not the last to be selling them.

I expect there's some technical reason though.

Not all the trains, mainly in the ASL-NCL direction, have been finalised yet, so they still show up as unadvertised in RTT, not visible on brtimes.com and are and not available to select on the TPE booking site.

Obviously you can travel on any train subject to off-peak timings, but the average person is going to complain when they see two-hour gaps on the retailer websites so Northern would want to get this fixed before selling tickets

 

[androdas]

Northern have an a full morning peak of test trains this morning. I have been watching the progress on signalmaps.co.uk and everything seems to have run OK so far but the timings around Benton Junction seem very tight as are the turnarounds at Ashington. Could really do with a relief line between Heaton North and Benton North.