Bedlington terrier owners travel for free at namesake station

Terriers are being welcomed aboard trains at a station which shares their name on a reopened railway line. Bedlington Station finally opened on Sunday as part of the Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle, which reopened in December 2024. Operator Northern said the first 25 Bedlington terriers to arrive at the station on Monday between 10:00 and 12:00 BST would earn their owners a free travel pass. The breed is named after the town, where they were bred to hunt rats in coal mines and race other dogs. Northern said the travel pass was valid between any two stations on the Northern network and the journeys must be made entirely on Northern services. The pass can allow up to two adults and two children and the return trip can be on a separate day. Northern's commercial and customer director Alex Hornby said: "Bedlington Iron and Engine Works produced parts for George Stephenson's first train just over 200 years ago and provided rails and locomotives for railway networks across Europe. "We know Bedlington is equally proud of this world-famous breed of dog, so we wanted to offer some of the owners and their canine companions free travel." Bedlington was the last of four to