Minister backs return of Ashington rail service
TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling has thrown his support behind plans to bring back passenger trains between Ashington and Newcastle.
Northumberland County Council is putting together proposals to restore services to a track which links Newcastle City Centre to Ashington and Blyth.
Only freight trains have operated on the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Line since passenger stations were closed in 1964.
The council aims to submit a full business case and design details by the end of the year, and says the plan is to run passenger trains along the 20-mile route by 2022.
Yesterday, the Secretary of State arrived at Morpeth Railway Station and travelled on a section of the proposed Northumberland Line. Senior councillors and officers took the Minister through the plans along the route.
Mr Grayling spoke about the importance of linking communities and the benefits it can bring, including opportunities to boost employment.
He also said he was supportive of the Northumberland Line proposals in principle.
He added: “There are about six places around the country where there is a real opportunity to bring back passengers to lines that haven’t had them since the days of Dr Beeching. This is really one of them.
“It’s an established railway line and it’s still got a lot of the infrastructure that you would need. And there are credible exciting proposals to bring it back to life. So I’m very supportive of this, I’m very hopeful that we’ll get a good proposal coming out of Nexus and the two authorities in the next few months.”
When asked about the help the Government would give to the project, he said: “I never make absolute commitments to provide funding but I would say this is a really strong candidate.
“We are putting money through the Transforming Cities Fund into improving transport infrastructure around our major cities. This would be a really positive addition to not just the rail network into and out of Newcastle but right up into Northumberland, where it would make a real difference to the communities here.
“A lot of people will look at this line and say ‘why on earth doesn’t it have passenger trains already?’ So it’s a real opportunity to do something positive for Blyth, Ashington and for the communities on the route.”
In recent months, UK’s rail network has faced major criticism over train delays and the rise in ticket prices. So why should people put their confidence in the rail industry?
“I hope very much that people will start to see in the coming months the fruits of the investment that is being put into the railways,” said Mr Grayling.
“Every single train in the North of England is being replaced with either a brand new train or a completely refurbished train.
“All the express trains on the East Coast Mainline are being replaced by the brand new Azuma trains.
“There’s a big investment programme to provide more capacity on the East Coast Mainline through Newcastle and up to Scotland.
“I think it’s the trains that are most symbolic for people. If you’re in a tatty old train, it feels second rate. Those tatty old trains are now being replaced by much better, more modern, more comfortable trains.”