Northumberland Line reopening: progress updates

[zwk500]

ORR approval now granted for Bedlington station ahead of formal opening on Sunday 29th: https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/orr-authorises-bedlington-station-northumberland-line

26 March 2026
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the rail regulator, has authorised Bedlington Station in Northumberland - the final station to reopen as part of the Northumberland Line - ahead of its planned opening to passengers on Sunday 29 March.

Letter: https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/defaul...on-orr-authorisation-letter-25-march-2026.pdf

 

[swt_passenger]

Short Video of opening day service:

Summary text:

The video shows an un-introduced local politician, (leader of Northumberland Council), announcing the station opening, he looks forward to the benefits the station will bring to residents of Bedlington. In the background a 4 car train formed of a 156 and a 158 arrives in the down platform and then departs towards Ashington. There are also a large number of passengers waiting on the opposite platorm for the returning train.

 

[androdas]

47 days short of 6 years since this thread started the project is complete! Good to see the main issue now is capacity and the need for 4 cars when so many thought this project could be a white elephant (especially on local social media).

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

Great to see for the area.

Hopefully, not too long until the old station building at Bedlington gets turned into a cafe and historical hub.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Short Video of opening day service:

Summary text:

The video shows an un-named local politician announcing the station opening, he looks forward to the benefits the station will bring to residents of Bedlington. In the background a 4 car train formed of a 156 and a 158 arrives in the down platform and then departs towards Ashington. There are also a large number of passengers waiting on the opposite platorm for the returning train.

Minor clarification for the summary but the "unnamed" local politician is Glen Sanderson, the leader of Northumberland County Council.

But yeah, I got the first train to Bedlington yesterday (and a couple later on), very early to say but seems to be going down well in large part because it is perhaps the new station most integrated into its town. People in Blyth centre are (in my experience at least) slightly ambivalent about Bebside and Newsham as they're largely seen as stations for the commuter estates on the edge of Blyth, but Bedlington (both the Station and the Market Place side) seems a lot more positive about their new station.

 

[59CosG95]

Bedlington (both the Station and the Market Place side) seems a lot more positive about their new station.

That is really cheering to hear, especially as a lot of the news coverage about Bedlington opening last seemed to be going down the "raw deal for locals" route.

I suppose I can be public about this now - I spent 2.5 years working on the scheme, doing QA, and Bedlington was one of the sites that I managed in terms of quality right from the off. Bedlington was easily the biggest logistical nightmare of the 6 sites - hemmed in at all corners by level crossings, a nasty reverse curve on the Up line, countless Section 61* consent forms, and very limited space to store materials. We had to store a lot of our precast platform components at the TT Electronics Road-Rail Access Point 1/4 of a mile towards Ashington!

(*prior consent from the council for noisy works in line with the Control of Pollution Act 1974)
It was a pleasure to be a small cog in this hugely significant project, especially as I started this thread about it all the way back in 2020, and I never knew that I would one day work on it.

 

[Killingworth]

But yeah, I got the first train to Bedlington yesterday (and a couple later on), very early to say but seems to be going down well in large part because it is perhaps the new station most integrated into its town. People in Blyth centre are (in my experience at least) slightly ambivalent about Bebside and Newsham as they're largely seen as stations for the commuter estates on the edge of Blyth, but Bedlington (both the Station and the Market Place side) seems a lot more positive about their new station.

Those who don't know Bedlington may need to look at a map to see that Front Street and the heart of old Bedlington is over 1.5 built up miles away from the second little nucleus to the east that is known as Bedlington Station. Modern development stretches a further mile to the west. It's a big catchment area.

 

[och aye]

Fantastic to see another station opening on the network.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Those who don't know Bedlington may need to look at a map to see that Front Street and the heart of old Bedlington is over 1.5 built up miles away from the second little nucleus to the east that is known as Bedlington Station. Modern development stretches a further mile to the west. It's a big catchment area.

I've always said it should be called Bedlington Station station

 

[consettman]

It was a pleasure to be a small cog in this hugely significant project, especially as I started this thread about it all the way back in 2020, and I never knew that I would one day work on it.

Hats off to all the cogs, big and small, who made this project happen with so little (relative!) drama, and in the face of the usual online hostility. Hopefully the success of this line will inspire the political will to pursue more projects like this.
Out of curiosity, how did things pan out with respect to budgets and spend? The delays inevitably got quite a bit of airtime, but there doesn't seem to have been much noise about cost overruns, if indeed there were any of much materiality.

 

[androdas]

In an interview for the Northumberland Gazette on the occasion Bedlington opening the Northumberland Council leaders Coun. Sanderson has awknowledged demand and said the Mayor and council have provided funding for longer trains (without saying where they are coming from) and claims they will be in place by the summer:

“In fact, what we have now is the challenge of getting more carriages to meet the demand. That is underway.
“I’m very grateful to the mayor and also to the council for finding the money to be able to get new carriages which I’m hoping to see in place soon, certainly by the summer.”

Full article here (Beware the Gazette website is a ad ridden mess!): https://www.northumberlandgazette.c...-line-trains-after-sensational-demand-6530696

Moderator note: For trip planning/reports, please use/see the following thread:

Northumberland Line: trip planning & reports

Just being nosy .. how many folk here are planning on going on the first train, or at least travelling on the first day ?

www.railforums.co.uk