THE Railways Minister has hailed the scheme to reopen a rural railway station as having ‘huge potential’.

Hexham MP Guy Opperman hosted Chris Heaton-Harris MP during a visit to Gilsland.

The long-running campaign to reopen Gilsland railway station – which was closed under the Beeching cuts in 1967 – is gaining momentum having recently submitted a second stage application to the ‘Restoring Your Railway’ Fund and now having secured a high profile visit.

Following the visit, Mr Opperman said: “Having the Railways Minister come to Gilsland to see for himself just what could be achieved for the local community and the rural economy here in west Northumberland is a huge boost for our campaign.

“Thanks to the combined efforts of Northumberland County Council, community rail partnership, rail user and campaign groups, Northumberland National Park, my Cumbrian colleague Neil Hudson MP and many others, we are giving our bid a really good chance of success.”

Mr Heaton Harris added: “It was great to visit Gilsland to see the site first hand.

“There’s huge potential here with Hadrian’s Wall and Northumberland National Park just a stone’s throw away.

“I look forward to reading the bid with great interest.”