Wikipedia

Newsham railway station

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.[1] The station was closed by British Railways in 1964, but construction of a new station is underway.

Newsham
General information
LocationBlyth, Northumberland
England
Coordinates55°06′32″N 1°31′43″W / 55.109°N 1.5287°W / 55.109; -1.5287
Grid referenceNZ302795
Platforms3
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBlyth and Tyne Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1851 (1851)Opened
2 November 1964Closed to passengers
7 June 1965 (1965-06-07)Closed completely
2024Proposed reopening

History

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The station was opened in summer 1851 by the Blyth and Tyne Railway. It was situated at the end of Seaton Avenue and Carlton Road, off South Newsham Road on the B1523. There was an extensive system of sidings at the station and The Railway Clearing House Handbook indicated that the station handled goods and livestock. The station was closed to passengers on 2 November 1964[2] and closed completely on 7 June 1965.[1]

Reopening proposals

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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] This study suggested that though Newsham station should be reopened to serve the village itself, Blyth would be better served by a dedicated park and ride station near to the former site of Bebside station which would be closer to both the town centre and the A189 dual carriageway.[9]

Despite a change in the political leadership of Northumberland County Council following the 2017 local elections[10] the authority continued to develop the project,[11] 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.[12][13] 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.[14]

Nonetheless, the county council has continued to develop the project, hiring AECOM and SCL Rail as contractors to develop the scheme on their behalf in 2018[15] and allocating an additional £3.46 million in funding for a further business case and detailed design study[16] (equivalent to GRIP 3)[14] in February 2019.[16] Revised plans were revealed in July 2019 which were reduced in scope from the 2016 GRIP 2 study and proposed 4-phase project[17] to reduce the initial cost of the scheme. Under the £90 million Phase 1,[16] Newsham would have become the only station reopened to serve Blyth on the Newcastle to Ashington Northumberland Line passenger service while the park and ride station at Bebside was to be added as an additional station in Phase 2.[17] However, in August 2020, it was reported that these four proposed phases might be merged into a single one.[18]

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,[19] while further work is ongoing to secure additional public and private investment for the project.[20]

The Department for Transport allocated an initial grant of £1.5 million towards the project costs in January 2020[21] which was supplemented by an allocation of £10 million of funds from Northumberland County Council the following month.[15] This funding enabled AECOM to begin detailed on-site ground investigation works in October 2020.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] 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 new station at Bebside from initial project scope[25] (although the latter option was later publicly ruled out by Minister for Railways Chris Heaton-Harris).[26]

Northumberland County Council submitted a Transport and Works Act Order application to the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps on 26 May 2021,[27][28] under which they would be conferred certain additional powers deemed necessary for the new stations to be constructed and the line upgraded to carry regular passenger services.[29] If approved, the new Newsham station will be constructed by the project's primary construction contractor, Morgan Sindall.[30] It is anticipated that the main Northumberland Line project construction phase could begin in early 2022, enabling an opening date in 2024.[30]

Construction of the new station is underway and is expected to be ready in time for the line opening in 2024. [31]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Disused Stations: Newsham". disused-stations.org. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. ^ Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 316. OCLC 931112387.
  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. 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. ^ "Ashington Blyth & Tyne GRIP 2 Study" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  10. ^ Kelly, Mike; Muncaster, Michael (5 May 2017). "Northumberland local elections results IN FULL – council held by Tories in 'straw draw' drama". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail (PDF). Department for Transport. November 2017. ISBN 9781528601252. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  13. ^ Allen, Andrew (12 December 2017). "What's in the government's new rail strategy?". CityMetric. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  14. ^ a b "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.
  15. ^ a b "£162m Northumberland Line scheme moves to design phase". The Construction Index. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  16. ^ a b c O'Connell, Ben (28 February 2019). "Phasing of proposed Northumberland rail line explained after concerns raised". News Post Leader. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  17. ^ a b O'Connell, Ben (15 July 2019). "Six new stations could open if Ashington to Newcastle passenger trains resume". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Northumberland line could reopen in one phase". News Post Leader. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Northumberland Line could reopen for passengers in 2022". Rail Engineer. 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Kennedy, Catherine (26 October 2020). "Ground investigation underway to convert Northumberland Line for passenger services". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  23. ^ Burroughs, David (23 January 2021). "£794m package to reopen British lines unveiled | International Railway Journal". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  24. ^ 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. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  25. ^ a b 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.
  26. ^ Sharma, Sonia (25 April 2021). "Minister confirms plans for all six stations on Northumberland rail line are on track". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  27. ^ Smith, Ian (28 May 2021). "New application seeks authorisation for return of passenger rail services on the Northumberland Line". New Post Leader. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Northumberland County Council – Northumberland Line". Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  29. ^ O'Connor, Duncan (26 May 2021). "Northumberland Line TWAO Application Letter" (PDF). Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  30. ^ a b 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.
  31. ^ "Signalling goes live on new rail line". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2024.

Sources

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edit
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Hartley
Line open; station closed 		  Blyth and Tyne Railway   Bebside
Line open; station closed
    Blyth
Line and station closed
  Future services  
Seaton Delaval   Northern Trains
Northumberland Line 		  Blyth Bebside
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