Rail campaigners dismayed by exclusion of Chathill from late night Edinburgh Festival service

TransPennine Express has introduced late night trains on weekdays in August to enable people in the North East to attend the Edinburgh Festival.

The last train at 11pm calls at East Linton, Dunbar, Reston, Berwick, Alnmouth, Morpeth and Newcastle.

Members of the Chathill Rail Action Group (CRAG) are pleasantly surprised by this initiative by a government controlled rail operator but say the omission of Chathill is a missed opportunity.

CRAG founder John Holwell said: “What a pity that TransPennine Express did not use this opportunity to stop an afternoon northbound train and the new southbound train at Chathill.

"This would have given local people and our holidaymakers, on the beautiful Northumberland coast, an opportunity to have an evening in Edinburgh.

"TransPennine could have followed the desire of Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, Northumberland County Council and the North East Mayor by providing this (albeit temporary) new service. Again we see public transport exclusion not being addressed by a government rail operator.

"It is good to see small communities like Reston being included in this service but our much larger community is excluded.”

Northern Rail currently operate early morning and evening services from Chathill to and from Newcastle calling at all intermediate stations.

CRAG has called for a trial period in which they can prove demand for increased rail services in north Northumberland. The aim is to have eight trains stopping daily at Chathill in both directions, offering a 40 minute connection to Newcastle and 55 minutes to Edinburgh.