Hopes plans to extend Northumberland Line could be put forward next year
North East leaders say they hope the first plans to see the Northumberland Line Railway extended to Woodhorn and Newbiggin could be submitted by next autumn. However, at this stage officials have only set a target for the extension to be completed by 2040.
The line, which first reopened in 2024, has been hugely successful with more than one million passengers recorded. That popularity has led to a wish to extend the line even further, taking in stops that were initially planned but then deemed too expensive and dropped from the original scheme.
The extension has been backed by Northumberland County Council, the North East Mayor and rail operator Northern. At Tuesday’s meeting of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “I’m incredibly proud of the Northumberland line.
“It took a lot of ambition and a lot of tough skin to get to where we got to with that. I’m very grateful that so many people are enjoying it and finding it reliable and good value for money.
“I’m grateful to the Mayor for funding the new feasibility work that will get us to the next step of extending the line to Woodhorn and Newbiggin. I hope the first planning application will be in by autumn next year.”
Such has been the success of the line, there have even been calls to put on additional carriages at peak times, particularly on weekends to cope with matchday traffic for football fans travelling into Newcastle.
Ms McGuinness replied: “Never say we’re not ambitious. The success of it speaks for itself – and we will get more carriages on it, we are absolutely determined.”
The comments came during a discussion on the new North East Rail Vision, which contained details of a raft of upgrades planned for the region’s rail networks by 2040. Alongside the Northumberland Line are plans to bring the Metro to Washington, reopen the Leamside Line and take control of the region’s train stations – including the £27 million station at Sunderland branded an “embarrassment” by critics.
Ms McGuinness has long called for control over stations to be devolved to her office so that local leaders can “take quicker action to improve stations and trains, delivering improvements everyone can see”.
Priorities targeted for delivery by 2032 include increasing train service frequency to a minimum of one every 30 minutes at stations including Cramlington and Chester-le-Street and recovering the “losses suffered” in the 2025 East Coast Main Line timetable change.
Longer-term ambitions by 2040 include securing new inter-city rail services to Sunderland and the extension of the Northumberland Line.
Ms McGuinness said: “This is about improving our railway for the future up to 2040 so that it is ran in the interests of local people in the region. Sunderland is one station we know will be run better in the interests of local people as a real hub in the community.
“This is the time for us to seize the moment. We have the Prime Minister calling for further devolution including with railways and a new body in Great British Rail.
“We have to be at the forefront of this, we have to set out what we want for rail while reversing decades of under-investment. This will transform the railways into something people recognise as being run in their interests.