Date announced for opening of new railway station

A date has been announced for the opening of a railway station on a new line.

Newsham, on the Northumberland Line, had been expected to open when passenger services between Ashington and Newcastle resumed in December, but was delayed.

It will now open on Monday 17 March, with tickets on sale from 10 March.

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: "Everyone involved with this project should feel incredibly proud to see another station opening."

It was initially hoped the 18-mile (29km) line would open with six new stations, but only two, Ashington and Seaton Delaval, were completed when the line reopened to passengers, six decades on from the last such services in 1964.

Speaking in 2024, line programme delivery director Neil Blagburn described Newsham as the "biggest and most complex site" on the line.

It included the construction of a £30m road bridge over the line, which opened in August 2024.

Its construction costs were estimated to be just more than £11m in 2021 before spiralling, with inflation blamed for the rise.

The station's original signal box was found to be structurally unsound and was also demolished.

Northern, which operates the services, says about 50,000 passenger journeys were made on the line in the first month.

Sanderson said: "This very ambitious project has been needed for decades, and the opening of Newsham Station will give those passenger numbers a further boost."

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: "Tens of thousands of people have already benefited from the historic reopening of the Northumberland Line, and I'm pleased many more will do so when Newsham Station opens."

The remaining three stations on the Northumberland Line, at Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park, are scheduled to open throughout 2025.

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.