News

The next station on the Northumberland Line to open will be Northumberland Park on Sunday 22nd February 2026. The first train to serve the station will be the 08:10 to Ashington (07:54 from Newcastle), with the first train to Newcastle & Metrocentre at 09:02 (08:38 from Ashington). The new station will provide interchange with the Tyne & Wear Metro and through tickets are available with Pop Pay As You Go and Pop Season Tickets. For passengers using Pop - please remember to t

Passengers have now made more than 1,000,000 journeys on the Northumberland Line - as the next station's opening date is confirmed. The milestone was marked during a special event held at Blyth Bebside station. It comes after the line reopened to passengers – for the first time in 60 years – in December 2024, thanks to a project involving Northumberland County Council, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Northern. Services currently call at Newcastle, Manors and ne

As we get closer to the new station at Northumberland Park opening, it's time to reach into the archives and compare the old station to the new one. Our new station is in a slightly different location to the previous station and also has a different name, with the previous station carrying the name of Backworth. The original station opened on 27th June 1864 and was called Hotspur, before the name changed to Backworth in the summer of 1865. The station had a single storey b

December saw the Northumberland Line hit a major milestone as we celebrated the first year of passenger services on the line. We're also looking forward to the last two stations opening at Northumberland Park and Bedlington in early 2026. Catch up on the latest news here

From Monday 24th November, there will be some off peak roadworks and pedestrian walkway closures on Rotary Road, close to the Northumberland Park station construction site. The works will take place between 9.30am and 3.30pm on weekdays only and are expected to be complete by 12th December. There will be a southbound lane and pedestrian footway closure during the works (shown in blue on the picture).

A specialised virtual careers room for the County Council’s schools has been launched to support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) pupils.  Developed by AECOM, the virtual careers room is a digital space in which users can interact with information in a variety of different formats and is accessible on mobile phones, tablets, computers and other devices. The project is part of the social value activities AECOM is investing in to uplift local communities along

If you'd like to learn more about the Northumberland Line project and how it's been delivered, you can join an online lecture from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The online event takes place from 6.30pm on Thursday 4th December and will be delivered by Simon Middleton from AECOM and Tony Lloyd from Morgan Sindall. Click here for more information and to book a free place (but you will need to set up an account to make a booking). The successful opening of the Northu

Network Rail will be undertaking track maintenance works in the Northumberland Park area using a machine called a Tamper, which is used to make sure the track is level. The works are essential for the continued development of the Northumberland Line rail project. What to expect during the works The tamping works will be undertaken along a section of track, as shown by the red line on the below map, from 11:30pm Monday 17 November 2025 to 5:30am Tuesday 18 November 2025 and 11

We've had an incredibly busy time since the last newsletter was issued - from the opening of Blyth Bebside station to Ashington becoming the World Cup of Stations winner for 2025 to progress on station construction at Bedlington and Northumberland Park. Read all the latest updates here;

The preparation work for the crane removal is progressing well and this will reopen the Algernon Drive bridge to pedestrians. We are also making good progress on working towards completing the construction of the station. Upcoming works remaining include the following: • Completion of station site works, including concrete works, laying asphalt to the platform, earth works and installation of platform fencing; • Removal of temporary works from resident’s gardens and re-instat

A huge thank you to everyone who has voted for Ashington so far in the World Cup of Stations for 2025. You've got until 23.59 on Friday 17th October 2025 to cast your vote and Ashington is currently sitting 2nd in the public vote. World Cup of Stations Ashington has a history of creating World Cup winners and let's see if we can add another trophy for the town.

Enjoy the 5th of our Northumberland Line stories and this time we hear from Calvin. This is the last in our current series of stories,...

Here's our 4th installment of Voices of the Northumberland Line and we hand over to Jean to share her story.......

We will be hosting an information session that will provide an update on progress so far and upcoming works relating to construction of...

We're sharing the 3rd of our Voices of the Northumberland Line series and this time, we're hearing Reece's story on how the...

The doors to Northern's Heaton TrainCare Centre are being opened to the public for a special event to celebrate it's 150th anniversary on...

We're sharing the second of our series of Northumberland Line stories - real life people sharing how the Northumberland Line has changed...

The Northumberland Line has changed the way people travel in South East Northumberland and we asked local people to share their stories...

There's still a lot of work happening on the Northumberland Line as we get closer to welcoming our final 3 stations, plus we've got 3...

Northumberland County Council is set to consider extra funding to ensure the Northumberland Line rail project can be completed in full as...