Today I had 2 really useful telephone meetings. Firstly, with Northern’s new Regional Director Tony Baxter along with Pete Myers, who used to be our Stakeholder Liaison Manager many years ago before sadly moving to another region within Northern. We discussed several issues including the current emergency timetables, the longstanding fault with Morpeth’s CIS, and the need for an earlier train from Cramlington. I look forward to following up with a face to face meeting at Morpeth as soon as the lockdown is over. Later in the afternoon I had a 2nd meeting with some planning consultants discussing the viability of the proposed new station at Choppington. SENRUG believes that that once the core Ashington Blyth & Tyne route is re-opened, the Morpeth – Choppington – Bedlington section should then be re-opened too, with Newcastle – Morpeth trains extended on to Choppington and Bedlington to connect with Newcastle – Bedlington – Ashington trains. Both meetings were very useful.
