Bedlington railway station

Bedlington
View northward, towards Ashington and Newbiggin (curving right at North Box), and Morpeth (left at Box). 12 May 1965.
Location
Place Bedlington
Area Northumberland
Coordinates 55°08′25″N 1°34′01″W / 55.1404°N 1.567°W / 55.1404; -1.567Coordinates: 55°08′25″N 1°34′01″W / 55.1404°N 1.567°W / 55.1404; -1.567
Grid reference NZ275829
Operations
Original company Blyth and Tyne Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping LNER
British Rail (North Eastern)
Platforms 1
History
3 August 1850 (1850-08-03) Opened
2 November 1964 (1964-11-02) Closed to passengers and completely
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

Bedlington railway station was a railway station that served the town of Bedlington, Northumberland, England from 1850 to 1964 on the Blyth and Tyne Railway.

History

The station was opened on 3 August 1850 by the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The station was situated on the north side of the level crossing on Station Road, west of the junction with Palace Road. Nearby was Bedlington Colliery. In 1911, NER statistics showed that a population of 14,755 had served the station in that year. In the interwar years, residential development grew in the vicinity of the station, thus the number of users who used it grew. The station closed to both passengers and goods traffic on 2 November 1964.[1]

Reopening proposals

By the 1990s local councils were considering the feasibility of restoring passenger services linking Ashington and Blyth with Newcastle Central.[2] 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.[2]

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.[3]

  • 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 via Bedlington.[4]

Northumberland County Council is currently developing plans aimed at reopening the line through Bedlington 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.[5] 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.[6]

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, Bedlington 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.[7] If funding for the £191 million[7] 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.[7]

After receiving the GRIP 2 study, NCC announced that they were preceding with a GRIP 3 Study from Network Rail.[8]

The former platform and station buildings at Bedlington station, 1 April 2006. It has been suggested that subject to condition inspection and permanent way alignment, this platform could be refurbished if the station was to be reopened (though a new down platform would still be required).[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Disused Stations: Bedlington". Disused Stations. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Bevan 1998, p. 59.
  3. ↑ Hansard 2007.
  4. ↑ ATOC 2009, p. 17.
  5. ↑ "The Journal: Ashington Blyth and Tyne rail line restoration scheme gets green light". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "New Post Leader: Plans for rail line reach milestone". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Chronicle Live: Reopening of Newcastle to Ashington rail link moves one step closer". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "SENRUG - South East Northumberland Rail User Group: Re-open Ashington Blyth & Tyne Line". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ashington, Blyth & Tyne GRIP 2 Study" (PDF). Retrieved 24 March 2017.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Choppington
Line and station closed		   Blyth and Tyne Railway   Bebside
Line and station closed
North Seaton
Line and station closed		    
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