Special charter in bid to reopen service to town

Apr 29 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

A FORMER pit town in Northumberland will welcome its first passenger trains for 40 years when a long-running campaign to reopen a lost railway line is stepped up.

Train travellers have not passed through Ashington since the 1960s when Dr Beeching’s rail cuts saw the closure of the Ashington Blyth and Tyne (ABT) passenger line. Now – as part of the lengthy campaign to permanently reopen the freight-only route to passengers – three specially-chartered Northern Rail trains will travel along the line on June 7. The South-East Northumberland Rail Users’ Group (SENRUG) has organised the special promotional event, which will allow about 300 railway enthusiasts to buy tickets and travel on two of the three journeys.

SENRUG has secured funding from Wansbeck District Council to charter the train, which will travel along the length of the line, taking in Newsham in Blyth, Bedlington Station, Ashington, Choppington and Morpeth.

Each of the three journeys will start in Morpeth, run down the main line to Newcastle, back up the ABT to Ashington and then through Choppington back to Morpeth. The first train is reserved for politicians and invited guests from agencies which could play a part in getting the line reopened. But SENRUG is selling tickets for the other two trips at £6 for adults and £4 for children.

Yesterday SENRUG chairman Dennis Fancett said: “We hope these three journeys will help people to realise that this is a fully operational and maintained line which is capable of carrying passenger trains today.

“We hope to show both the general public and those in authority that it is not too difficult to get this line reopened. It would give an enormous boost to towns like Ashington and Blyth, and we think the authorities should proceed with the reopening sooner rather than later. We are expecting every single seat on each trip to be taken. We wanted to put the ticket price at about the same as what an Ashington to Newcastle return by train might cost once the line is reopened permanently, and £6 seemed the right figure. But it does mean we expect to sell out of tickets very quickly, so we urge those who want to be on the trip to buy as soon as they can.”

For those keen to go on one of the journeys on June 7, the second train leaves Morpeth at 10.57am and train three at 2.27pm, with each trip taking around two hours. Tickets can be bought from J&J Models at 53 Newgate Street, Morpeth, or by post by sending a stamped addressed envelope and stating the number of adult and child tickets required, together with a cheque payable to SENRUG for the full amount and a contact phone number, to Colin Patmore, 11 Campion Way, Ashington, NE63 8JG.