Passengers have made more than 50,000 journeys on Northumberland Line services in the first month after the opening.
The line reopened to passengers – for the first time in 60 years – in December, thanks to a £298.5m project involving the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Northumberland County Council and Northern.
Services now call at Newcastle, Manors, Seaton Delaval and Ashington, with a journey along the entire 18-mile route taking around 35 minutes and a single ticket costing no more than £3.
Tickets for more than 50,000 journeys have been bought since the opening and Saturdays have been particularly popular.
That includes more than 3,500 journeys made on the opening day (Sunday, 15 December), when the platform in Ashington was packed with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the first service.
More than 16,000 journeys were then recorded in the first week.
Paul Henry, programme manager for the Northumberland Line, said: “It has been fantastic to welcome thousands of passengers on board after we spent years planning and preparing for the opening.
“The line is already making such an impact in the region and opening up new opportunities for so many people.”
Glen Sanderson, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “This is a great milestone to reach after a month of opening and shows just how much need there was for this line which we’ve worked so hard for over the past few years.
“It’s been fantastic to see how popular the service has been over the festive period, as well as those using it every day whether for work or education.
“We’re looking forward to more stations opening in the near future which will no doubt increase passenger numbers even further.”
The maximum peak-time single fare – for the trip from Newcastle to Ashington – is £3 and a return trip costs £6. An off-peak single for the same journey is £2.60 and a return is £5.20.
Northern has worked with Nexus, the public body which runs Tyne and Wear Metro, and Northumberland County Council to provide integrated fares for multi-modal journeys.
Customers can seamlessly switch between Metro and Northern services by using the North East’s Pop ‘Pay As You Go’ system to purchase smart fares.
Northern is running two daytime services an hour on the Northumberland Line from Monday to Saturday and one train per hour in the evenings and on Sundays.
Passengers travel on Class 158 trains, which have space for bicycles and wheelchairs, accessible toilets, free on-board Wi-Fi and charging points.
New stations in Newsham, Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park remain under construction and they are due to open this year.
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
