Ashington railway station

Last updated

Ashington
General information
Location Ashington, Northumberland
England
Coordinates 55°10′55″N1°34′23″W / 55.182°N 1.573°W / 55.182; -1.573
Owned by National Rail (on reopening)
Managed by Northern Trains (on reopening)
Platforms1 [lower-alpha 1]
Tracks1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Blyth and Tyne Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1 March 1872Opened as Hirst (for Ashington)
1 October 1889Renamed Ashington
2 November 1964Closed
Autumn 2022Construction work begins
Summer 2024Proposed reopening
Location
Northumberland UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ashington
Location in Northumberland, England

Ashington is a railway station on the Northumberland Line, which is due to reopen in the summer of 2024 [1] , and will run between Newcastle and Ashington. The station will serve the town of Ashington in Northumberland, England.

Contents

History

The station was opened on 1 March 1872 as Hirst (for Ashington), serving the Newbiggin-by-the-Sea branch of the North Eastern Railway.

In 1874, the North Eastern Railway took over the Blyth and Tyne Railway, later becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 grouping.

On nationalisation in 1948, ownership was passed to the North Eastern Region of British Railways.

The station was closed to passenger services on 2 November 1964, as part of the Reshaping of British Railways .

The station's signal box was closed on 14 February 2010, with the removal of the main line crossover. The signal box was demolished over the weekend of 10–11 August 2013.[ citation needed ]

The northbound platform was demolished in October 2022 to make way for the new Northumberland Line platform. [2]

Reopening proposals

Proposals to reintroduce passenger rail services to the currently freight-only section of the former Blyth and Tyne Railway system have been discussed since the 1990s. [3] [4] [5]

In the early 2010s, Northumberland County Council (NCC) became interested in the proposals, commissioning Network Rail to complete a GRIP 1 study to examine the best options for the scheme in June 2013. [6] This report was published in March 2014 and was followed in June 2015 with the commissioning of a more detailed GRIP 2 study at a cost of £850,000. [7] The GRIP 2 study, published in October 2016, confirmed that the reintroduction of a frequent seven-day a week passenger service between Newcastle, Ashington and possibly a new terminus to the east, at Woodhorn, was feasible and could provide economic benefits of £70 million with more than 380,000 people using the line each year by 2034. [8] Despite a change in the political leadership of Northumberland County Council following the 2017 local elections [9] the authority continued to develop the project, [10] encouraged by the Department for Transport's November 2017 report, A Strategic Vision for Rail, which named the line as a possible candidate for a future reintroduction of passenger services. [11] [12] Consequentially, NCC commissioned a further interim study in November 2017 (dubbed GRIP 2B) to determine whether high costs and long timescales identified in the GRIP 2 Study could be reduced by reducing the initial scope of the project, but the report failed to deliver on this. [13]

Nonetheless, the county council has continued to develop the project, hiring AECOM and SLC Rail as contractors to develop the scheme on their behalf in 2018 [14] and allocating an additional £3.46 million in funding for a further business case and detailed design study [15] (equivalent to GRIP 3) [13] in February 2019. [15] Revised plans were revealed in July 2019 which were reduced in scope from the 2016 GRIP 2 study and proposed 4-phase project [16] to reduce the initial cost of the scheme. Phase 1 (at an estimated cost of £90 million) [15] would have seen hourly passenger trains [14] return to a reopened Ashington station and new turn-back facilities provided to allow trains to terminate there while later phases would have added additional stations and the infrastructure upgrades provided elsewhere on the line [16] to provide a half-hourly frequency. [14] However, in August 2020, it was reported that these four proposed phases might be merged into a single one. [17]

The North East Joint Transport Committee's bid for £377 million of funding from the UK Government's £1.28 billion Transforming Cities Fund, submitted on 20 June 2019, includes £99 million to fund the reintroduction of passenger services between Newcastle and Ashington, [18] while further work is ongoing to secure additional public and private investment for the project. [19]

The Department for Transport allocated an initial grant of £1.5 million towards the project costs in January 2020 [20] which was supplemented by an allocation of £10 million of funds from Northumberland County Council the following month. [14] This funding enabled AECOM to begin detailed on-site ground investigation works in October 2020. [21] The allocation of a further £34 million of UK Government funding for the project in January 2021 enables the necessary land to be purchased, detailed designs to be prepared and some early preparatory and site works to begin. [22] In January 2021, it was anticipated that the UK Government would fund the remainder of the project cost, estimated at £166 million as of January 2021, once the final phase of design works were completed. [23] However, in April 2021, it was reported that government officials were seeking to reduce the cost of the project as part of the Department for Transport's Project SPEED initiative. [24] It was reported that the cost-saving measures under consideration included and cutting initial service frequencies from two to one trains per hour and dropping the proposed Blyth Bebside station from initial project scope [24] (although the latter option was later publicly ruled out by Minister for Railways Chris Heaton-Harris). [25]

A planning application for the new station was submitted to Northumberland County Council on 3 February 2021. [26] The submitted planning documents indicate that the station will have a single 100 m (110 yd) bay platform, [27] located on a short siding [28] which will be recessed into part of the original down (northbound) platform (requiring its partial demolition). [29] It will be accessible from the adjacent Station Yard Car Park (to be expanded to a capacity of 275 cars) and will be linked to the existing Wansbeck Square Footbridge, via a new lift, to provide access to the eastern side of the through lines. [27]

Northumberland County Council submitted a Transport and Works Act Order application to the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps on 26 May 2021, [30] [31] which was approved on 27 June 2022. [32] The council has been conferred certain additional powers deemed necessary for the new stations to be constructed and the line upgraded to carry regular passenger services. [33] The new Ashington station will be constructed by the project's primary construction contractor, Morgan Sindall. [34] The main construction phase began in autumn 2022, enabling an opening date in 2024. [34]

Construction of the new station is underway and is expected to be ready in time for the line opening in Summer 2024. [35]

Services

Northern Trains
Northumberland Line
BSicon KINTa.svg
 Newcastle TWMetro logo no text.PNG
BSicon INT.svg
 Manors TWMetro logo no text.PNG
BSicon INT.svg
 Northumberland Park TWMetro logo no text.PNG
BSicon HST.svg
 Seaton Delaval
BSicon HST.svg
 Newsham
BSicon HST.svg
 Blyth Bebside
BSicon HST.svg
 Bedlington
BSicon KHSTe.svg
 Ashington

Weekday and Saturday daytime services are expected to operate twice-hourly, with an hourly service during the evening and on Sunday, with an end-to-end journey time between Newcastle and Ashington of around 35 minutes. [36] All services are expected to be operated by Northern Trains.

(Expected) rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter

Notes

  1. ↑ The former station consisted of 2 platforms, but is expected reopen in the summer of 2024 with 1 platform.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedlington</span> Town in Northumberland, England

Bedlington is a town and former civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 18,470 measured at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morpeth railway station</span> Railway station in Northumberland, England

Morpeth is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 16 miles 50 chains north of Newcastle, serves the historic market town of Morpeth, Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle railway station</span> Mainline railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Newcastle station is a railway station in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around 268 miles (432 km) north of London King's Cross. It is the primary national rail station serving Newcastle upon Tyne and is an interchange for local services provided by the Tyne and Wear Metro network whose Central Station is situated beneath the national rail station. It is the busiest station in Tyne & Wear, as well as the busiest in North East England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Tyneside Steam Railway</span> Visitor attraction in North East England

The North Tyneside Steam Railway and Stephenson Steam Railway are visitor attractions in North Shields, North East England. The museum and railway workshops share a building on Middle Engine Lane adjacent to the Silverlink Retail Park. The railway is a standard gauge line, running south for 2 miles (3.2 km) from the museum to Percy Main. The railway is operated by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association (NTSRA). The museum is managed by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northumberland Park Metro station</span> Tyne and Wear Metro station in North Tyneside

Northumberland Park is a Tyne and Wear Metro and future National Rail station, serving the village of Backworth and suburbs of Northumberland Park and West Allotment, as well as the nearby Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. The station opened on 11 December 2005.

The Blyth and Tyne Railway was a railway company in Northumberland, England, incorporated by Act of Parliament on 30 June 1852. It was created to unify the various private railways and waggonways built to carry coal from the Northumberland coalfield to Blyth and the River Tyne, which it took control of on 1 January 1853. Over time, the railway expanded its network to reach Morpeth (1857/8), North Seaton (1859), Tynemouth (1860/1), Newcastle upon Tyne (1864), and finally Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (1872). It became part of the much larger North Eastern Railway in 1874.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manors railway station</span> Railway station in Tyne and Wear, England

Manors is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station serves the Quayside and Shieldfield areas of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. The Metro station of the same name is not directly connected, and located a short walk away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashington</span> Town and parish in Northumberland, England

Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is 15 miles (24 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the south by the River Wansbeck. Many inhabitants have a distinctive accent and dialect known as Pitmatic. This varies from the regional dialect known as Geordie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitley Bay Metro station</span> Tyne and Wear Metro station in North Tyneside

Whitley Bay is a Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the coastal town of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It joined the network on 11 August 1980, following the opening of the first phase of the network, between Haymarket and Tynemouth via Four Lane Ends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blyth railway station</span> Former railway station in Northumberland

Blyth railway station served Blyth, Northumberland on the Blyth Branch line in Northeast England.

This is a list of National Rail stations in the ceremonial county of Northumberland, England, with estimated usage figures gathered from data collected by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). As of February 2023, there are 17 stations located along two lines in Northumberland, from which around 2.08 million passenger journeys were made from April 2021–March 2022. Both lines run perpendicular to each other and meet at Newcastle, with some services going from one line to the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Gosforth TMD</span> Tyne and Wear Metro depot

South Gosforth Traction Maintenance Depot is a vehicle cleaning, maintenance and stabling facility used by the Tyne and Wear Metro, located in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedlington railway station</span> Disused railway station in Bedlington, Northumberland

Bedlington railway station was a railway station that served the town of Bedlington, Northumberland, England from 1850 to 1964 on the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The station was closed by British Railways in 1964, but construction of a new station is now underway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bebside railway station</span> Railway station under reconstruction in Bebside, Northumberland

Bebside railway station was a railway station that served the village of Bebside in Northumberland, North East England from 1850 to 1964. The station is currently under reconstruction, as part of the new Northumberland Line, to serve nearby Blyth, with the estimated opening to be in Summer 2024.

Newsham railway station served the village of Newsham near Blyth, England, from 1851 to 1964 on the Blyth and Tyne Railway. It was located at the junction of the Percy Main to Blyth and Bedlington lines of the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The station was closed by British Railways in 1964, but construction of a new station is underway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaton Delaval railway station</span> Disused railway station in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland

Seaton Delaval railway station served the village of Seaton Delaval in Northumberland, North East England, from 1841 to 1965 on what became part of the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The construction of a new station is underway nearby as part of the Northumberland Line project.

Seghill railway station served the village of Seghill, Northumberland, England from 1841 to 1965 on the Blyth and Tyne Railway.

Woodhorn was a railway station proposed as part of the project to reintroduce passenger rail services onto the Ashington, Blyth & Tyne Railway which closed to passenger traffic in 1964. It was initially proposed that the newly reopened line could terminate at a new station, close to the Woodhorn Colliery Museum and Northumberland Archives, rather than at Ashington, the previous station however revised plans, released in July 2019 appear to have dropped Woodhorn station from project scope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northumberland Line</span> Under-construction passenger rail route in NE England

The Northumberland Line is an under-construction railway project in North East England aimed at reintroducing passenger rail services to freight-only lines in South East Northumberland. Under the scheme, a new passenger service will link some of Northumberland's major population centres in Ashington and Blyth to the nearby city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Construction of new stations and works to upgrade the existing rail infrastructure to bring it up to passenger-carrying standards was reported as having begun by late August 2022, ahead of the anticipated launch of the new passenger service in December 2023. This was later pushed back to the summer of 2024, when three of the new stations will be opened. The rest of the stations will open in late 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "Passenger rail service confirmed for 2024 opening". Northumberland County Council . 16 January 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  2. ↑ "Ashington works". Northumberland Line. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Denis Murphy; et al. (10 January 2007). "Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Railway". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 135WH–139WH.
  4. ↑ "Connecting Communities – Expanding Access to the Rail Network" (PDF). London: Association of Train Operating Companies. June 2009. p. 17. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Graham, Hannah (24 January 2021). "'They said it was impossible': Campaigners celebrate success in 15-year Northumberland railway fight - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "The Journal: Ashington Blyth and Tyne rail line restoration scheme gets green light". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "New Post Leader: Plans for rail line reach milestone". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Chronicle Live: Reopening of Newcastle to Ashington rail link moves one step closer" . Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Kelly, Mike; Muncaster, Michael (5 May 2017). "Northumberland local elections results IN FULL - council held by Tories in 'straw draw' drama - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  10. ↑ Graham, Hannah (1 June 2018). "Northumberland's draft local plan unveiled: What it means for houses, jobs and the green belt - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  11. ↑ Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail (PDF). Department for Transport. November 2017. ISBN   9781528601252 . Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  12. ↑ Allen, Andrew (12 December 2017). "What's in the government's new rail strategy? | CityMetric". CityMetric. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  13. 1 2 "SENRUG - South East Northumberland Rail User Group: Re-open Ashington Blyth & Tyne Line". SENRUG - South East Northumberland Rail User Group. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "£162m Northumberland Line scheme moves to design phase". The Construction Index. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. 1 2 3 O'Connell, Ben (28 February 2019). "Phasing of proposed Northumberland rail line explained after concerns raised | News Post Leader". News Post Leader. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  16. 1 2 O'Connell, Ben (15 July 2019). "Six new stations could open if Ashington to Newcastle passenger trains resume - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Northumberland line could reopen in one phase | News Post Leader". News Post Leader. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  18. ↑ Holland, Daniel (19 June 2019). "North East's £377m transport funding bid confirmed - but leaders say there is more to come - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  19. ↑ "Northumberland Line could reopen for passengers in 2022 | Rail Engineer". Rail Engineer. 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  20. ↑ Sharma, Sonia (28 January 2020). "How plans to re-open Newcastle to Ashington railway line could boost region". North East Chronicle. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  21. ↑ Kennedy, Catherine (26 October 2020). "Ground investigation underway to convert Northumberland Line for passenger services - New Civil Engineer". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  22. ↑ Burroughs, David (23 January 2021). "£794m package to reopen British lines unveiled | International Railway Journal". International Railway Journal . Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  23. ↑ O'Connell, Ben (23 January 2021). "Government confirms £34million for Northumberland Line - Rail Minister says he's 'lucky to be reopening train lines' | Northumberland Gazette". Northumberland Gazette. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  24. 1 2 Walker, Jonathan (16 April 2021). "Planned new Northumberland rail line is being cut back before work has even begun - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  25. ↑ Sharma, Sonia (25 April 2021). "Minister confirms plans for all six stations on Northumberland rail line are on track - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  26. ↑ "21/00387/CCD | Construction of a new single platform railway station including pedestrian lift, new highway access; modifications to existing highways including pedestrian footways; provision of parking for cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, cycles, and taxis and other associated works including new crossings for pedestrians and cyclists. Construction of facilities ancillary to the station including, lighting, soft and hard landscaping, surface and subsurface drainage, utilities and other services, boundary treatment and other associated works. | Station Yard Car Park North Wansbeck Square Station Road Ashington Northumberland NE63 9XH". Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  27. 1 2 Healey, Alannah; Gillan, Peter (23 February 2021). "21/00387/CCD - PLANNING STATEMENT" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  28. ↑ "21/00387/CCD - PROPOSED GENERAL ARRANGEMENT" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  29. ↑ Scott, Gillian (3 February 2021). "21/00387/CCD - HERITAGE STATEMENT" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  30. ↑ Smith, Ian (28 May 2021). "New application seeks authorisation for return of passenger rail services on the Northumberland Line | New Post Leader". New Post Leader. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  31. ↑ "Northumberland County Council - Northumberland Line". Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  32. ↑ "Transport and Works Act 1992: Application for Proposed Northumberland Line Order" (PDF). GOV.UK. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  33. ↑ O'Connor, Duncan (26 May 2021). "Northumberland Line TWAO Application Letter" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  34. 1 2 Horgan, Rob (9 August 2021). "Morgan Sindall to build six new stations for Northumberland line restoration | New Civil Engineer". New Civil Engineer . Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  35. ↑ "Signalling goes live on new rail line". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  36. ↑ "The Northumberland Line project". Network Rail . Retrieved 9 April 2024.

Sources

Preceding station National Rail logo.svg National Rail Following station
  Historical railways  
North Seaton
Line open; station closed		  Blyth and Tyne Railway   Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
Line and station closed
 Future services 
Bedlington
towards Newcastle 		  Northern Trains
Northumberland Line 		 Terminus
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.