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First rail passengers travel from delayed station

BBC Bradley Watson is standing next to his mother Amanda Watson at Newsham station. He is 20 years old and wearing a blue jacket with white t-shirt. She is wearing a white fleece and they are both smiling.BBC
Bradley Watson, with mum Amanda Watson, was heading down to York from Newsham

The first passengers to use a delayed third station on a new railway line say it will "make a big difference" to people in the town it serves.

Newsham, on the Northumberland Line, had been expected to open when passenger services between Ashington and Newcastle resumed in December but it was not completed in time.

Bradley Watson, 20, was among those using the station in Blyth on Monday, the first day services called there, as part of a journey to York.

"I don't drive so I think this will really help me, and other people in the area who rely on public transport, to get around," he said.

A train is at a platform at Newsham station. It is a two carriage Northern train. A few people are waiting on the other platform
Newsham is the third station to open on the Northumberland Line

"It will make a a big difference to young people like Bradley," mum Amanda Watson said.

"It takes an hour on the bus, this is so much quicker."

Robert Taylor, from Shiremoor, who was also travelling from Newsham, said: "My nearest station is Northumberland Park which won't be ready for a while but I travelled from Ashington on the first day in December and I wanted to take a train from Newsham on its first day too."

Robert Taylor is an older man with a white beard and moustache. He is wearing a blue cap and a blue jacket with a red shirt and is standing on the platform at Newsham station
Robert Taylor had come up from his home in Shiremoor so he could travel from Newsham on the day it opened

It was initially hoped the 18-mile (29km) line would open with six new stations, but only two, Ashington and Seaton Delaval, were completed when services began in December.

Newsham involved the construction of a £30m road bridge which opened in August 2024.

Geographic/Chris Morgan Newsham signal box is a square redbrick building and behind it is a footbridge crossing the line.Geographic/Chris Morgan
The original signal box of the old station was demolished

The station's original signal box was found to be structurally unsound and was demolished.

Olivia Perkins, from the construction company Morgan Sindell said: "This has been a very challenging station.

"There's been archaeology, there's been interesting ground conditions to deal with."

Olivia Perkins is standing on a platform underneath a road bridge. She is wearing a blue suit and a white scarf and has blonde, shoulder length hair.
Olivia Perkins from constructors Morgan Sindell said Newsham had been a "challenging" station to build

"We're right by the North Sea, you've got the elements being thrown at you, we found things we didn't expect, so we're very relieved.

"It's fantastic as a company because this is where construction began, so it's a really proud day to see Newsham open."

A group of people are watching a politician cutting the ribbon on the steps of a train station. There are children also watching and a large mascot wearing a dog costume and a Newcastle United shirt.
Newsham is one of two stations in Blyth with the other, Blyth Bebside, now scheduled to open this summer

Paul Henry, from train operator Northern, said the Northumberland Line was "going really well".

"We are close to 150,000 journeys since December, which is slightly ahead of our targets.

"It's fantastic to see how well it's been used.

"We've waited a long time to get our trains to call here and I was here at 0612 when the first train came in. It felt really, really good."

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