More plans for Northumberland Line extension

A council leader has said he hopes to see plans for an upgrade to the Northumberland Line submitted by next autumn.

The railway line has been hugely popular since it opened in 2024, prompting extension proposals to Woodhorn and Newbiggin, which were backed by Northumberland County Council, the North East Mayor and rail operator Northern.

At this stage, officials have only set a target for the extension to be finished by 2040, along with a raft of upgrades planned for the region's rail networks.

However council leader Glen Sanderson said mayoral funding would allow for the "next step of extending the line" adding he hoped the first planning application would be in by autumn 2027.

The comments came during a discussion on the new North East Rail Vision, which contained details for many upgrades planned for the region's rail networks by 2040.

More than one million passenger journeys have been made on the Northumberland Line, between Ashington and Newcastle, since it reopened in December 2024.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Sanderson said he was "incredibly proud" and was "very grateful that so many people are enjoying it and finding it reliable and good value for money".

"It took a lot of ambition and a lot of tough skin to get to where we got to with that," he added.

There have also been calls to put on additional carriages at peak times, particularly on weekends to cope with matchday traffic for football fans travelling into Newcastle.

North East Mayor Kim 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".

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."

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 £27m station at Sunderland branded an "embarrassment" by critics.

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.

Longer-term ambitions by 2040 include securing new inter-city rail services to Sunderland and the extension of the Northumberland Line.

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