In 2024 passenger trains were reinstated between Newcastle and Ashington, sixty years after they had been withdrawn. Iain Kitt offers the latest instalment in the history of this ‘Blyth and Tyne’ line, the origins of which date back to a colliery railway that opened in 1840, quickly growing into a network of lines in southeastern Northumberland and Newcastle. These lines carried huge amounts of coal, but they were also important for passenger traffic, serving the coastal suburbs of Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, to which they operated one of the first suburban electric trains in the country. However, following a decline in numbers, passenger trains between Newcastle and Ashington were withdrawn in 1964 but services on the coastal loop continued and in the early 1980s became part of the Tyne & Wear Metro. Coal traffic also dwindled and now the last remaining freight traffic consists of trains supplying biofuel to Lynemouth Power Station.

With a fascinating and varied selection of images alongside well-researched text, this book tells the story of the rise and decline of these lines and the successful campaign to bring passenger services back to the area.