Northern has announced that the Northumberland line has hit a new milestone as 250,000 passengers have travelled on the service since its re-introduction in December 2024.

The service, which calls at Newcastle and Manors alongside new stations in Seaton Delaval, Newsham and Ashington, was brought back into operation as part of a 298.5 million GBP project involving partners from the Department for Transport (DfT), Network Rail, Northumberland County Council and Northern.

The service runs on a route that, for the last 60 years, was utilised purely for freight train travel

© Northern

Of the trips taken on the 35 minute service, 27,000 were recorded during March 2025, with more than 8,000 trips made on the day of Newcastle United’s celebration following a Carabao Cup win.

Paul Henry, Programme Manager for the Northumberland Line, said:

We’re delighted to have hit this milestone as it shows that people are making the most of these new services. It’s great to see the line is already having such a positive impact on the area, allowing locals to access a range of new opportunities on fast and affordable services.

The vast majority do the right thing and buy tickets before they board, but we don’t want anyone to miss their train because they are getting caught in a queue for a ticket.

Northern has stated that it will continue monitoring journeys along the new line, with the operator recently announcing plans to ensure four carriage capacity on all Sunday services by July 2025.

The service runs twice per hour during the day from Monday to Saturday, with evenings and Sundays seeing services reduced to once per hour.

Stuart McNaughton, Head of Strategic Transport and Climate Change at Northumberland County Council, said:

This marks a landmark for the line and we’d like to thank everyone who has used this fantastic new service over the past four months.

The Northumberland Line is creating a whole range of new opportunities, from education to employment and tourism, and the journey figures reflect how important the line is for many people. Work is continuing at pace on the remaining stations and we look forward to even greater passenger numbers over the coming months.

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