Useful meeting today with Northern to discuss the May 23 and December 23 timetables. Nothing much is changing for May (on our line). I stressed our key objectives are to retain the hourly timetable, upgrade to hourly frequency for Sundays, retain through running to and from Carlisle, and to ensure connections are maintained with London services at Newcastle. Looking ahead, we asked for sight of the draft Northumberland Line timetable, for the Carlisle – Morpeth services to be extended from Morpeth to Bedlington, and for the morning train from Chathill to strengthened to 4 coaches. The timetable planner said he was unaware of the Morpeth – Bedlington aspiration; this surprised me, as SENRUG has consistently raised it at every opportunity, so has been followed up with a formal request to Northern, which you can see here.
