Rail campaign gets up a head of steam

Jun 9 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

RAIL campaigners calling for the restoration of passenger services on a Northumberland line have travelled the route to prove that it is in working order.

More than 300 people took part in three separate trips on the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne line on Saturday as part of the South East Northumberland Rail User Group (SENRUG) campaign to reopen the line.

Dennis Fancett, chairman of SENRUG, said the trip had generated a huge amount of interest and support.

He said: “The main benefit is the transport links it would provide for Ashington and Blyth into Newcastle.

“It will create better access to jobs, particularly for couples where perhaps both are working but only one has a car.

“It makes Ashington a more attractive place to live and will assist with the area’s regeneration.”

And Mr Fancett added that the work and investment required to reintroduce the track, which has been closed to passenger trains since 1964, was relatively minor.

He said: “The tracks are already there. In some places they are carrying out railway upgrades where there is no track – the investment required for this is very small. At £4.1m Morpeth to Bedlington almost comes as a minor works scheme.”

The group is calling for a phased reopening of the line, with the first phase to extend the existing MetroCentre – Newcastle – Cramlington – Morpeth service on to Choppington and Bedlington.

The second phase would involve extending the service to Ashington and then extending beyond Ashington to a new station at Woodhorn, with a third phase to reopen the line completely.

The train – called the Ashington Future – was chartered from Northern Rail with funding from Wansbeck Council.

The first of the train journeys to take place was for councillors, MPs and stakeholders in the proposed scheme, with the second two sold out to members of the public.

Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy was on the train and said: “This shows how easily it could be done. With a little bit of investment we can have a dedicated rail service running very quickly.

“We have a new unitary authority and I will be meeting with them to press it as a number one transport priority. What we need to prove is that this would be an incredibly popular service and very well used. I can see that within 18 months we could have the service running.”

Mr Murphy said he would raise the issue with transport minister Tom Harris at a meeting this week.

MEP for the North East Fiona Hall said the reintroduction of the service would bring “absolutely huge” benefits to the region.

The campaign has also included an online petition to 10 Downing Street which was signed by 1,292 people.