Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the Northumberland Line; and what estimate she has made of the date by which that work will be completed.

Recent progress on the Northumberland Line includes completion of track and signalling upgrades which have allowed driver training to commence, and the stations at Ashington, Newsham and Seaton Delaval nearing construction completion ahead of undergoing authorisation to operate a passenger service.

Based on information from the Northumberland County Council project team we currently estimate that passenger services will commence in December 2024 between those three stations and Newcastle. The remaining stations will open as soon as possible after this.