Northumberland rail campaigners welcome extra trains but call for further improvements

It will operate five trains per day each way between Newcastle and Edinburgh, starting in December, with improved connectivity between Northumberland stations.

Dennis Fancett, chairman of the South East Northumberland Rail Users Group (SENRUG), said: “This is an excellent initiative representing a useful compromise or stepping stone between what we have today and where we aspire to be.

"Most importantly, it can be implemented quickly, from this December. It utilises otherwise empty stock movements since TPE trains, currently terminating at Newcastle, are in fact maintained at Edinburgh.”

But he stressed: “Welcome though it is, it is not however the long-term solution, and is essentially two halves of entirely separate good initiatives that SENRUG is campaigning for, joined together to create a useful though not entirely logical solution.

"In particular, these TPE trains will not be connected to their Newcastle - Liverpool service, so are not providing any direct connectivity between Northumberland stations and Durham, York, Leeds and Manchester.

"Neither is the service hourly, as originally promised for the December 2019 launch. Nor will it easily facilitate further smaller stations along the East Coast Mainline route such as Belford to be opened.