Tyne Valley Line
| Tyne Valley line | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale |
Northumberland Cumbria Tyne and Wear North East England North West England |
| Termini |
Carlisle Newcastle |
| Stations | 16 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | From 1835 |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Operator(s) |
Northern Abellio ScotRail |
| Rolling stock |
Class 142 "Pacers" Class 156 "Super Sprinters" Class 158 "Express Sprinter" |
| Technical | |
| Number of tracks | Two |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Tyne Valley line, built by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, is a railway line in northern England. The 60-mile (97 km) line was built in the 1830s, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear with Carlisle in Cumbria. Formal opening took place on 18 June 1838. The line follows the course of the River Tyne through Northumberland. Five stations and two viaducts on the route are listed structures. The line is referred to by the train operators as "The Hadrian's Wall Country Line."
Passenger services on the Tyne Valley line are operated by Northern and Abellio ScotRail. The line is also heavily used for freight, and is an important diversionary route during East Coast Main Line closures. The line is not an electrified route. Passenger services are operated by diesel multiple units, typically Class 142 "Pacers", Class 156 "Super Sprinters" which were introduced in the late 1980s and on rare occasions Class 158s are used on this line, which were introduced in the early 1990s, before being transferred to other depots. Before this, Metro-Cammell Class 101 units were used.
The railway was built by the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Company, the requisite Act of Parliament gaining Royal Assent on 22 May 1829. The line was built in sections from 1834 onwards. The first section (Hexham - Blaydon) opened in March 1835 but services were then suspended until May after a local landowner objected to the use of locomotives (specifically prohibited by the Act of Parliament). The entire route between Carlisle London Road railway station and Redheugh in Gateshead was formally opened to passengers on 18 June 1838. A temporary Tyne bridge was built at Scotswood to allow trains to reach a terminus at Forth Banks in Newcastle - this opened on 21 October 1839. N&CR trains first used Newcastle Central railway station on 1 January 1851.
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Wikipedia