The group campaigning to see the Ashington Blyth & Tyne railway line re-opened to passenger trains have said they are delighted that every single seat has been sold on their special charter train that will run on 7th June 2008.

SENRUG, The South East Northumberland Rail User Group, have chartered a train to run round the line to demonstrate it remains fully operational and maintained, and could take passenger trains again very easily.

Dubbed the first passenger train to Ashington for 40 years, the charter train is making 3 trips round the line on 7th June, and tickets for the 2nd and 3rd trip were put on sale to the general public.

“But they sold out within days” said Dennis Fancett, Chairman of SENRUG, “even before we could get our publicity organised or a note on our website saying how they could be purchased”

“We are obviously delighted at the level of interest in the campaign, but regret we now have to disappoint all those who couldn’t get tickets. But of course we hope our campaign to re-open the line is successful and that in the not too distant future trains will be running on the line every day, so people can travel on it as much as they want”.

SENRUG are asking people not to send any further cheques for tickets to the address previously advertised, and are in the process of returning cheques received after all the tickets have been sold.

The charter train has been made possible by sponsorship from Wansbeck District Council. The first of the 3 trips is reserved for invited guests from the organisations that could play a part in getting the line re-opened such as the local authorities and redevelopment agencies. Approximate timings for all 3 trips are available from www.senrug.co.uk.