Ashington railway station

Ashington
Location
Place England
Area Northumberland
Operations
Original company Blyth and Tyne Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Platforms 2
History
1 March 1872 Opened as Hirst
1 October 1889 Renamed Ashington
2 November 1964 Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Ashington railway station was a station serving the town of Ashington in Northumberland, Northern England. It was on the branch to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

British Railways closed the station in 1964, but it has been the object of a reopening campaign since at least the 1990s.

History

Ashington station was opened by the Blyth and Tyne Railway in 1872 as Hirst (for Ashington).The North Eastern Railway took over the Blyth and Tyne Railway in 1874, the NER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 grouping and the station passed to the North Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. British Railways withdrew passenger services in 1964 as part of The Reshaping of British Railways.

The site today

The line through the former station is still used for freight. Ashington signal box was closed on 14 February 2010 with the removal of the main line crossover. The signal box was demolished over the weekend of 10–11 August 2013.

Reopening proposals

By the 1990s local councils were considering the feasibility of restoring passenger services linking Ashington and Blyth with Newcastle Central.[1] The proposal would not include reopening the branch to Blyth, but by building a new station at Newsham. In 1998 the Railway Development Society (renamed Railfuture in 2000) endorsed the proposal.[1]

Denis Murphy, the Labour MP for Wansbeck, expressed support in the House of Commons in an adjournment debate in April 1999 and again in a debate in January 2007.[2]

  • Denis Murphy and others; et al. (10 January 2007). "Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Railway". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 135WH–139WH.

In 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies published a £34 million proposal to restore passenger services from Newcastle Central to Ashington.[3]

Northumberland County Council is currently developing plans aimed at reopening the line through Ashington to passenger services. In June 2013 NCC announced that they had commissioned Network Rail to complete a GRIP 1 study to examine the best options for the scheme.[4] The GRIP 1 study was received by NCC in March 2014 and in June 2015 they initiated a more detailed GRIP 2 Feasibility Study at a cost of £850,000.[5]

The GRIP 2 study, which NCC received in October 2016, confirmed that the reintroduction of a frequent seven-day a week passenger service between Newcastle and Ashington was feasible and could provide economic benefits of £70 million with more than 380,000 people using the line each year by 2034.[6] If funding for the £191 million[6] scheme can be raised, it has been suggested that detailed design work could begin in October 2018 with construction commencing four months later and the first passenger services introduced in 2021.[6]

After receiving the GRIP 2 study, NCC announced that they were preceding with a GRIP 3 Study from Network Rail.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Bevan 1998, p. 59.
  2. ↑ Hansard 2007.
  3. ↑ ATOC 2009, p. 17.
  4. ↑ "The Journal: Ashington Blyth and Tyne rail line restoration scheme gets green light". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "New Post Leader: Plans for rail line reach milestone". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Chronicle Live: Reopening of Newcastle to Ashington rail link moves one step closer". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "SENRUG - South East Northumberland Rail User Group: Re-open Ashington Blyth & Tyne Line". Retrieved 10 March 2017.

Sources

  • Bevan, Alan, ed. (1998). A-Z of Rail Reopenings (fourth ed.). Fareham: Railway Development Society Ltd. p. 59. ISBN 0-901283-13-4.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • "Connecting Communities – Expanding Access to the Rail Network" (PDF). London: Association of Train Operating Companies. June 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Denis Murphy and others; et al. (10 January 2007). "Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Railway". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 135WH–139WH.
  • Crawford, Ewan. "Blyth and Tyne Railway". A History of Britain's Railways. Railscot.
  • Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
Line and station closed		   North Eastern Railway
Newbiggin branch
   North Seaton
Line and station closed

Coordinates: 55°10′55″N 1°34′23″W / 55.182°N 1.573°W / 55.182; -1.573

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