Alnwick branch line


The Alnwick branch line is a partly closed railway line in Northumberland, northern England. A heritage railway operates a short section of the line, which originally ran from Alnmouth railway station, on the East Coast Main Line, to the town of Alnwick, a distance of.
It opened on 5 August 1850 to both freight and passenger traffic; passenger operations included direct Newcastle to Alnwick services, as well as regular shuttle runs between Alnmouth and Alnwick. As late as 1966, some of the Alnmouth to Alnwick shuttles were operated by steam locomotives.

Operation

All Newcastle-Alnwick services and some local trains were taken over by diesel multiple units from 21 April 1958, with schedules cut by up to 15 minutes.

Closure

Passenger service was withdrawn in January 1968 and completely in October 1968 on cost grounds. The old embankment after the line had crossed the A1 road now forms the rear boundary of some of the gardens on the Royal Oak Gardens residential development.

Preservation and revival

The Aln Valley Railway is a heritage railway based in Alnwick, Northumberland. Construction of the railway is an ongoing project with the eventual intention being to reopen the old Alnwick Branch Line from the newly completed ' terminus station in Alnwick to Alnmouth station. At present the railway carries passengers for approximately from the new Lionheart station along a short section of the original route but work is currently underway to extend the line towards Edenhill Bridge in the short-term. The railway project is managed by the Aln Valley Railway Trust, a registered charity.
The project first emerged with the foundation of the Aln Valley Railway Society in 1995 and plans were announced in 1997 to reopen almost the entire length of the original branch line. However this proposal would have required the construction of a costly bridge over the A1 Dual Carriageway on the edge of Alnwick and so plans were later revised and it was instead decided that a new station should be built on site close to where the A1 intersected the original line.
Between April 2000 and November 2014 the Aln Valley Railway also had a presence at Longhoughton goods yard, where rolling stock and other items were temporarily stored and prepared for eventual movement to the Lionheart site, once it became available.
Planning permission was granted by Northumberland County Council on 1 July 2010 and the lease for the site signed on 22 February 2012. The site first opened to visitors five months later on 14 July, but only to demonstrate the ongoing work alongside exhibits of rolling stock as well as an indoor exhibition area, café, souvenir shop and model railway; the first train did not run until 3 November 2012. Passengers were first carried 28 March 2013 using the railway's Wickham trolley, a service which continued throughout the 2013 season. Later that year, on 10 September, the first trial steam service was operated and the railway was formally opened by the Duke of Northumberland on 30 October 2013.
Following the virtual completion of the initial plans for Lionheart station, the railway began works to extend the line onto the original trackbed of the Alnwick Branch Line in October 2015. On 28 December 2017, a public passenger train from Lionheart station ran along a section of the original branch line for the first time since the line closed nearly 50 years previously. As of August 2018, passenger trains regularly run from Lionheart station to Alndyke Farm Crossing, just beyond Bridge 6.
In July 2018, the AVRT was awarded a Rural Development Programme for England grant together with 20% match funding from Sustrans which constitute a total of £146,600. The grant is to be used to cover the costs of groundworks and track materials to extend the running line for a further 1 mile to a point just before the line passed under Edenhill Bridge where it will also cover the costs of constructing a new station, ', together with a run-round loop. A railway coach - BG No. 31407 - will also be purchased and converted to provide facilities for the new station.
Though it remains the goal of the AVRT to reopen the rest of the line through to Alnmouth, for it to continue beyond Edenhill Bridge, it must obtain a Transport and Works Act Order. Further planning permission will also be required and a lease will have to be negotiated with Network Rail for the final section of the former line into Alnmouth station, which ran alongside to the East Coast Main Line.

Rolling stock

Steam locomotives

PointCoordinates
Western end – Alnwick railway station
Approx. midpoint
Lionheart railway station complex
Eastern end – Alnmouth railway station