Woodhorn railway station

Woodhorn was a railway station proposed as part of the project to reintroduce passenger rail services onto the Ashington, Blyth & Tyne Railway (since rechristened as the Northumberland Line) which closed to passenger traffic in 1964. It was initially proposed that the newly reopened line could terminate at a new station, close to the Woodhorn Colliery Museum and Northumberland Archives, rather than at Ashington, the previous station[1][2][3][4] however revised plans, released in July 2019 appear to have dropped Woodhorn station from project scope.[5]

Woodhorn
Location
PlaceWoodhorn
Local authorityNorthumberland
Operations
Managed byNorthern (assumed)
Owned byNetwork Rail (assumed)
Number of platforms1
History
2021Originally proposed opening date
July 2019Opening proposal dropped
National Rail – UK railway stations

Development

In the early 2010s, Northumberland County Council (NCC) became interested in restoring passenger services along the remaining freight-only section of the former Blyth and Tyne Railway between Benton Junction and Woodhorn. In June 2013 NCC commissioned Network Rail to complete a GRIP 1 study to examine the best options for the scheme.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8] The study suggested a new station should be built as a terminus of the newly reopened line.[9] At the time it was suggested that, subject to funding being raised for the £191 million[8] scheme, detailed design work could begin in October 2018 with construction commencing four months later and the first passenger services introduced in 2021[8] though by October 2018 such works were yet to begin.

After receiving the GRIP 2 study, NCC initially announced that they were preceding with a GRIP 3 Study from Network Rail but such a report was not commissioned at the time.[10] Despite a change in the political leadership of Northumberland County Council following the 2017 local elections[11] the authority continued to work towards the reintroduction of a passenger service onto the line,[12] encouraged by the Department for Transport's November 2017 report, A Strategic Vision for Rail, which named the line as a possible candidate for a future reintroduction of passenger services.[13][14] Consequentially, NCC commissioned a further interim study in November 2017 (dubbed GRIP 2B) to determine whether high costs and long timescales identified in the GRIP 2 Study could be reduced by reducing the initial scope of the project but the report failed to deliver on this.[10]

Despite this, the county council has continued to develop the project, announcing a further £3.46 million in funding for a further business case and detailed design study[15] (equivalent to GRIP 3)[10] to be completed by the end of 2019. It is envisaged that passenger trains could be introduced as early as 2022.[15] However, the revised proposals, released in July 2019, are reduced in scope from the plan considered in the 2016 GRIP 2 study and propose 4-phase project[5] to reduce the initial cost of the scheme. Under these plans, the new station at Woodhorn appears to have been dropped in favour of creating new turn-back facilities at Ashington.[5]

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References
  5. O'Connell, Ben (15 July 2019). "Six new stations could open if Ashington to Newcastle passenger trains resume - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  6. "The Journal: Ashington Blyth and Tyne rail line restoration scheme gets green light". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. "New Post Leader: Plans for rail line reach milestone". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. "Chronicle Live: Reopening of Newcastle to Ashington rail link moves one step closer". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  9. "Ashington Blyth & Tyne GRIP 2 Study" (PDF). Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  10. "SENRUG - South East Northumberland Rail User Group: Re-open Ashington Blyth & Tyne Line". Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  11. Kelly, Mike; Muncaster, Michael (5 May 2017). "Northumberland local elections results IN FULL - council held by Tories in 'straw draw' drama - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  12. Graham, Hannah (1 June 2018). "Northumberland's draft local plan unveiled: What it means for houses, jobs and the green belt - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  13. "Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail" (PDF). Department for Transport. November 2017. ISBN 9781528601252. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  14. Allen, Andrew (12 December 2017). "What's in the government's new rail strategy? | CityMetric". CityMetric. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  15. O'Connell, Ben (28 February 2019). "Phasing of proposed Northumberland rail line explained after concerns raised | News Post Leader". News Post Leader. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
  Proposed service  
Terminus   Northern
Ashington, Blyth and Tyne line		   Ashington

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