A council leader has said he hopes to see plans for an upgrade to the Northumberland Line submitted by next autumn.

The railway line has been hugely popular since it opened in 2024, prompting extension proposals to Woodhorn and Newbiggin, which were backed by Northumberland County Council, the North East Mayor and rail operator Northern.

At this stage, officials have only set a target for the extension to be finished by 2040, along with a raft of upgrades planned for the region's rail networks.

However council leader Glen Sanderson said mayoral funding would allow for the "next step of extending the line" adding he hoped the first planning application would be in by autumn 2027.

The comments came during a discussion on the new North East Rail Vision, which contained details for many upgrades planned for the region's rail networks by 2040.

More than one million passenger journeys have been made on the Northumberland Line, between Ashington and Newcastle, since it reopened in December 2024.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Sanderson said he was "incredibly proud" and was "very grateful that so many people are enjoying it and finding it reliable and good value for money".

"It took a lot of ambition and a lot of tough skin to get to where we got to with that," he added.