Minister for Railways Chris Heaton-Harris announced an initial grant of £1.5 million towards the project costs during a visit to the site of Bedlington station in January 2020 which was supplemented by an allocation of £10 million of funds from Northumberland County Council the following month. This funding enabled AECOM to begin detailed on-site ground investigation works in October 2020. The allocation of a further £34 million of UK Government funding for the project in January 2021 enables the necessary land to be purchased, detailed designs to be prepared and some early preparatory and site works to begin. The UK Government is expected to fund the remainder of the project cost, estimated at £166 million as of January 2021, once the final phase of design works are complete. Planning applications were submitted for the proposed stations at Northumberland Park and Ashington in Feruary 2021 and for Blyth Bebside in that March.