Visit to Ashington
Ashington station, about 20 miles north of Newcastle, was closed by Beeching in 1964. In December 2024, after a £298m project, it was finally reopened to passenger traffic. The intermediate stations have not yet been completed, and this is foreseen during 2025. The purpose of this fixture was to visit the new line, and see for ourselves what has been achieved, and what still needs to be done. And to enjoy the ride!
The logistics of the fixture were quite complex as some of the members were resident in the Merseyside area, some in Chester, some in Malvern, and one in Shropshire. Eight members signalled their intention to take part, but only seven made it to Newcastle for reasons which will shortly become clear. Six of the seven travelled up the West Coast main line to Carlisle, thence onward to Newcastle, the other travelling directly to Newcastle from the Midlands via the East Coast main line.
It was during the trip from Carlisle to Newcastle that we heard from the eighth member that his route north from Liverpool was blocked by a failed train in the Lancaster area. This caused chaos on the WCML, involving several cancellations, and meant that returning home via Carlisle as originally booked was now out of the question, so alternative routes were found by members, some via Leeds, some via Birmingham New Street. All of which added to the fun!
The day chosen for the fixture, 13 May, may not have been propitious from a transport point of view but it certainly was for the weather, as it was an absolutely glorious day which made the scenery around Shap and along the Carlisle to Newcastle line particularly beautiful.
The spotting was not the principal objective of the trip, with the usual mixture of Pendolinos, 397s, 150s, 156s, 195s and 331s on the WCML, 156s galore on the Carlisle to Newcastle line, Azumas and Voyagers on the ECML, and 158s on the Ashington line ; but a couple of 66s and a 57 were noted at Carlisle, an 802 unusually travelling on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, and we just caught up with a 60 at Newcastle.
The new service between Newcastle and Ashington seemed very efficient, with half hourly trains in both directions.
All in all, an excellent day out, enjoyed by all, despite the emergency schedule changes for the return leg of the journey!
Click the link below for a list of observations....
