No date has been announced as yet, but Councillors assure me they are still expecting the grand re-opening to be this “summer”. It was however acknowledged some time ago that “summer”, in this context, might include the month of September. There are apparently still some technical issues, so can’t be totally certain as yet, and of course it’s standard practice in large projects such as this that any date must be 100% confirmed by all the construction parties involved before being released to the public. But let’s sit tight, avoid and ignore rumours and speculation, and wait for a date to be announced soon. Also, just to clarify again, on day 1, trains won’t be calling at Bedlington, Bebside and Northumberland Park but will be running from Ashington to Newsham, Seaton Delaval and in to Newcastle, with approximately alternate trains calling at Manors. The outstanding stations should come on stream soon after the first tranche re-opening.
1 thought on “Northumberland Line – Still Saying “Summer””
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Will there end up being low passenger numbers when the line first opens because we still don’t even know yet on 23rd July when in ‘Summer’ the line is to open? How can people plan to use it with such vague time lines? Even if we do get a date, it needs to be set in stone and actually happen this time otherwise people will just ignore it and assume it won’t open when they say.
We were told that the Newsham bridge would open on 27 July but when I drove past on Sunday it looked highly unlikely with very little visible progress to that end.
I wish the organizations involved in this project would just form one solid project plan, share it, and stick to it.