Editing Alnwick branch line (section)

== Preservation and revival ==
{{Heritage Railway |
|name      = Aln Valley Railway
|image_name= Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T no. 9 "Richboro", arriving into Alnwick Lionheart Station, 30 12 2017 (1).jpg
|image_width= 
|caption   = Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T no. 9 "Richboro", arriving into [[Alnwick Lionheart railway station|Alnwick Lionheart]].
|locale    = [[Northumberland]]<br>[[North East England]]
|terminus  = {{rws|Alnwick Lionheart}}
|linename  = Alnwick Branch Line
|builtby   = [[York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway]]
|originalgauge = {{Track gauge|uksg|allk=on}}
|preservedgauge = {{Track gauge|uksg|allk=on}}
|operator = Aln Valley Railway Trust
|stations = 2
|length = {{convert|1.5|mi|km|0}}
|originalopen = 5 August 1850
|closed = 29 January 1968
|stageyears = 1995
|stage = Aln Valley Railway Society formed
|years = April 2000
|events = Aln Valley Railway takes up residence at [[Longhoughton railway station|Longhoughton Station Goods Yard]]
|years1 = 1 July 2010
|events1 = Planning permission granted for new ''Alnwick Lionheart'' station and reopened railway to Edenhill Bridge
|years2 = 27 February 2012
|events2 = Construction of ''Alnwick Lionheart'' station begins
|years3 = 28 March 2013
|events3 = Passenger rides begin
|years4 = 30 October 2013
|events4 = ''Alnwick Lionheart'' station officially opened
|years5 = 28 December 2017
|events5 = Passenger trains return to the original trackbed
|headquarters = {{rws|Alnwick Lionheart}}
}}

The '''Aln Valley Railway''' is a heritage railway based on the Alnwick Branch Line. Reconstruction of the railway is an ongoing project; the intention is to reopen the old branch line from the newly completed ''{{rws|Alnwick Lionheart}}'' terminus station in Alnwick to [[Alnmouth railway station|Alnmouth station]]. The original station is Alnwick is not used due to it being unavailable and there being new buildings on some of the trackbed into the town centre. 

At present, the railway carries passengers for approximately {{convert|1.5|mi|km|0}} from the new Lionheart station along a 1.2 mile section of the original route to a temporary terminus station at Edenhill Bridge.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php |title=Aln Valley Railway |website=Aln Valley Railway |access-date=19 August 2018 |archive-date=20 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005732/http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php |url-status=live}}</ref> The railway project is managed by the ''Aln Valley Railway Trust'' (AVRT), a [[Charitable organization|registered charity]].<ref>{{EW charity|1063332|THE ALN VALLEY RAILWAY TRUST}}</ref>

[[File:Aln Valley Railway Alnwick Lionheart Station, 27 09 2015.jpg|thumb|The new built ''Alnwick Lionheart'' terminus of the Aln Valley Railway. The A1 Alnwick bypass passes the site in a cutting immediately beyond the far boundary fence, 27 September 2015|left]]

The project first emerged with the foundation of the Aln Valley Railway Society (since merged into the Aln Valley Railway Trust) in 1995 and plans were announced in 1997 to reopen almost the entire length of the original branch line. However, this proposal would have required the construction of a costly bridge over the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] dual carriageway bypass on the edge of Alnwick (and was later hindered further by the construction of a [[Lidl]] supermarket on the approach to the original station) and so plans were later revised and it was instead decided that a new station should be built on a site close to where the later A1 bypass truncated the original line.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php/about-us|title=About Us - Aln Valley Railway|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005746/http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php/about-us|url-status=live}}</ref>

Between April 2000 and November 2014, the Aln Valley Railway also had a presence at [[Longhoughton, Northumberland|Longhoughton]] goods yard, where rolling stock and other items were temporarily stored and prepared for eventual movement to the Lionheart site, once it became available.<ref name=":0" />

Planning permission was granted by Northumberland County Council on 1 July 2010 and the lease for the site signed on 22 February 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Mar2012.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Mar2012|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> The site first opened to visitors five months later on 14 July, but only to demonstrate the ongoing work alongside exhibits of rolling stock as well as an indoor exhibition area, café, souvenir shop and model railway;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Jun2012.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Jun2012|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> the first train (an engineer's train) did not run until 3 November 2012.<ref name=BLN1174>{{cite journal|title=none|journal=Branch Line News|date=8 Dec 2012|issue=1174|pages=420/12}}</ref> Passengers were first carried 28 March 2013 using the railway's [[Wickham trolley]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Mar2013.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Mar2013|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Apr2013.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Apr2013|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=24 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724072034/http://alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Apr2013.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> a service which continued throughout the 2013 season. Later that year, on 10 September, the first trial steam service was operated (though not for public passengers)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Sep2013.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Sep2013|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> and the railway was formally opened by the [[Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland|Duke of Northumberland]] on 30 October 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-steam-rail-link-set-6149002|title=Northumberland steam rail link set to reopen after 45 years - The Journal|last=Daniel|first=Brian|date=7 October 2013|website=The Journal|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005827/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-steam-rail-link-set-6149002|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Nov2013.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_Nov2013|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Aln_Valley_Railway_first_Steam_Service.png|thumb|The first preserved steam service|left]]

Following the virtual completion of the initial plans for Lionheart station, the railway began works to extend the line onto the original trackbed of the Alnwick Branch Line in October 2015; this passed the site in a cutting and thus had to be partially raised so as to allow trains to gradually descend from the station.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?u=4fb91265ed434f785ec0d9063&id=8a554a1cf8|title=Aln Valley Railway Newsletter November 2015|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=19 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119211559/https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?u=4fb91265ed434f785ec0d9063&id=8a554a1cf8|url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 December 2017, a public passenger train from Lionheart station ran along a section of the original branch line for the first time<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_December_2017.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_December_2017|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/images/newsletters/Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_February_2018.pdf|title=Aln_Valley_Railway_Newsletter_February_2018|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> since the line closed nearly 50 years previously. From August 2018, passenger trains regularly ran the short distance from Lionheart station to Alndyke Farm Crossing, just beyond Bridge 6.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?u=4fb91265ed434f785ec0d9063&id=ee8e9a6611 |title=Aln Valley Railway July - August 2018 |access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref>

In July 2018, the AVRT was awarded a [[Rural Development Programme for England]] grant (using funds jointly provided by the [[European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development]] and by the [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]]) together with 20% match funding from [[Sustrans]] which constitute a total of £146,600. The grant has been used to cover the costs of groundworks and track materials to extend the running line over the Cawledge Viaduct to a point just before the line passes under Edenhill Bridge, and has also covered the costs of constructing a new station at this location, ''{{rws|Greenrigg Halt}}'', together with a [[Headshunt#Run-round|run-round loop]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php/news/124-latest-grant-funding-awarded|title=Latest - Grant Funding Awarded - Aln Valley Railway|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074527/http://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/index.php/news/124-latest-grant-funding-awarded|url-status=live}}</ref> A railway coach{{snd}}BG No. 31407{{snd}}is being used to provide facilities for the new station, which is almost complete (2021).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/coming-up-in-issue-244-of-heritage-railway-aln-valley-bags-146k-grant-for-new-halt-and-run-round/|title=Aln Valley Railway bags £146k grant for new halt and run-round - Heritage Railway|last=Nigel|first=Devereux|date=24 July 2018|website=Heritage Railway|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074520/https://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/coming-up-in-issue-244-of-heritage-railway-aln-valley-bags-146k-grant-for-new-halt-and-run-round/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Though it remains the goal of the AVRT to reopen the rest of the line through to Alnmouth, for it to continue beyond Edenhill Bridge, it must obtain a [[Transport and Works Act 1992|Transport and Works Act Order]].<ref name=":0" /> Further planning permission will also be required and a lease will have to be negotiated with [[Network Rail]] for the final section of the former line into Alnmouth station, which ran alongside the [[East Coast Main Line]].