Funds committed to explore more rail expansion
Northern RailMoney has been allocated to develop plans to extend a popular rail route reinstated 15 months ago.
Last week, the North East Combined Authority (NECA) committed an initial £2.5m to a dedicated Rail Development Fund, which included plans to expand the Northumberland Line.
Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said he hoped planning applications for the line's extension to Newbiggin-on-Sea could be submitted by 2028 and suggested a station could be added to serve Wansbeck General Hospital.
The funding would be used to "accelerate rail‑related scheme development across the region" including a plan to reopen Ferryhill Station in County Durham as part of the Leamside Line.
The Northumberland Line reopened in December 2024 and has proved hugely popular since opening, with more than one million journeys made on the route so far.
Services currently call at Newcastle, Manors and new stations Northumberland Park, Seaton Delaval, Newsham, Blyth Bebside and Ashington, with another new station in Bedlington due to open on Sunday.
A NECA cabinet meeting saw its Transport for City Regions development funding allocations signed off on Tuesday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The Rail Development Fund would back work on "a pipeline of rail propositions", including projects related to reopening the Leamside Line which runs from Pelaw in Gateshead to Tursdale in County Durham.
Conservative leader Sanderson told the meeting he hoped to see extra carriages added to existing Northumberland line services "in the next month or two".
A NECA report said Northern Rail had no spare units in its current fleet with which to lengthen trains, but that it and the county council were "actively working to resolve this issue" within existing approved budgets.
