A ‘Railway Quarter’ for Bedlington?

Bedlington Station is due to open as part of the Northumberland Line, at time of writing by December 2024.

In 2025, the Stockton and Darlington (S&D) Railway, internationally famous as one of the early railways will be celebrating its 200th anniversary year, with, rightly, major investments into places like the Skerne Bridge in Darlington, and the old North Road Station undergoing a £35m redevelopment to create a ‘Railway Quarter’ in the town.

Bedlington is undeniably linked to the success of the Stockton and Darlington by perhaps the most fundamental component of the railway – its rails.

George Stephenson, the engineer of the line and needing no introduction here, chose the ‘Bedlington rails’ over his own cast iron product due to their superiority for use being malleable iron rather than brittle cast iron and probably a major part of why the S&D was so successful.

Given that Bedlington Station is due to reopen, perhaps the partial demolition of the South building at the station should be reconsidered with some urgency?

A fully restored Bedlington Station could perhaps become a miniature ‘railway quarter’ for the Bedlington Station area at a fraction of the cost of that in Darlington?

For a cost of between £0.5m & £1m (https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/council/historic-bedlington-station-building-to-be-demolished-as-councillors-fear-preservation-would-become-a-money-pit-4241491), surely retaining the station and even a modest cosmetic improvement to the Edwardian building would be more befitting than demolition, and could help draw tourists to the newly reopened station if co-ordinated with the S&D celebrations in Durham, even a direct link to Darlington Station could be possible if desired.

Two-thirds of the S&D used Bedlington Rails (https://www.sdr1825.org.uk/history-of-the-sdr/), so surely a visit to Bedlington could be an important part of the celebrations for many to attend?