Northumberland Line
Under-construction passenger rail route in NE England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Northumberland Line?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Northumberland Line is a railway project under construction in North East England; it is 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.[1] 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,[2] ahead of the anticipated launch of the new passenger service in December 2023.[3] This was later pushed back to the summer of 2024, when three of the new stations will be opened.[4] The rest of the stations will open in late 2024.[5]
Northumberland Line | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Status | Under construction | ||
Owner | Network Rail | ||
Locale | |||
Termini | |||
Stations |
| ||
Website | https://www.northumberlandline.uk/ | ||
Service | |||
Type | Heavy rail | ||
System | National Rail | ||
Operator(s) | Northern Trains | ||
History | |||
Opened | 2024-2025 (planned) | ||
Technical | |||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
|
The new passenger service will run on lines which formerly constituted part of the Blyth and Tyne Railway system, a once-extensive railway network that historically covered much of South East Northumberland. Most of the lines being utilised as part of this project have been without passenger services since 1964, when they were withdrawn as part of the Beeching cuts.[6]