This was how Ashington’s former railway station looked 30 years ago.
When our unflattering image was captured in October 1992, the station had been closed to passengers for 28 years - although freight trains would continue to use the line. It was a far cry from the booming early days. The station had opened in 1878 and was known as Hirst up until the late 1880s.
Ashington was one of many busy stops on the Blyth and Tyne line, the opening of which went hand in hand with the rapid growth of the coal industry in the area and linked the thriving towns and villages of South East Northumberland with Newcastle and stations in modern-day North Tyneside. Our second image, courtesy of the Armstrong Photographic Railway Trust, shows a pair of diesel passenger trains at an altogether smarter station in 1958.
READ MORE: A night out in Newcastle 50 years ago - and a very different city centre
But over time, steadily falling passenger numbers would lead to the closure of Ashington station. In 1911, nearly 260,000 tickets were issued there, a figure which had plummeted to less than 40,000 in 1951. It was one of the many stations that closed in the wake of the 1963 report The Reshaping of British Railways , more readily known at the Beeching cuts or axe.
Over the next 10 years, most of the proposals contained in the report were implemented, resulting in about one third of the country’s 7,000 stations being closed and 5,000 miles of track being ripped up. Around 70,000 people lost their jobs.
Despite many objections, the station lost its passenger service in November, 1964. The line closure left Ashington, with a population of 30,000, and Blyth, with 40,000, as two of the largest towns in England not to be served by rail.
For many years, there were calls to reopen the station and line, but these fell on deaf ears - until earlier this year. In June, ChronicleLive reported that final Government approval had been issued for a restoration of passenger services between Newcastle and Ashington.
We told how "Rail operator Northern is planning to run a service between Newcastle Central and a new station in Ashington. The other five new stops will be Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, Newsham, Seaton Delaval and a new platform at Northumberland Park Metro station." Read the full story here.
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