Passengers, together with businesses and councillors, are united in their determination to prevent cuts to the service deemed vital to rural Tynedale's economic health and wellbeing.

The proposal is to create a high-speed link between Newcastle and Carlisle by cutting out stops at the less well used stations.

The proposal is contained in a leaked document prepared for the Strategic Rail Authority, so nobody knows as yet just how far it goes.

But the revelation has triggered a debate about whether it could signal the closure of some of Tynedale's smaller stations.

It seems that the stations west of Hexham - Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle - are among those under consideration.

It is recommended that the service in that area be replaced by shuttle buses.

Currently being wound up by the Government, in its dying days the Strategic Rail Authority has bequeathed the final draft of its North East Regional Planning Assessment to the Department of Transport.

The document has yet to be published officially.

With little money in the pot for capital investment, rail bosses are looking instead at improving efficiency by streamlining services.

Inevitably the focus is on the under-used routes that tend to be in rural areas.

But the move would fly in the face of all that Tynedale's user groups have been trying to achieve.

With commuting on the rise due to a swathe of local job losses and the increasing importance of tourism to the area, West Tynedale in particular needs more trains, not less, they say.

Tyne Valley Rail Users Group chairman Malcolm Chainey said: "We would be massively upset if these proposals were to go through.

"They are the complete opposite of what we have been trying to achieve.

"We have been trying to get a better service for our rural stations, which sometimes have big gaps of up to four hours between trains.

"If the Government wants fewer people to get in their cars, it won't do it this way.

"As it is, the Highways Agency says it doesn't want to do anymore to the A69 which feeds traffic and congestion on to the A1 western bypass."

He added that the local Community Rail Partnership, Nexus and the county council had commissioned a survey aimed at improving the service at rural stations.

Northumberland County Council said it would oppose any plans to cut rail services.

Council leader Coun. Bill Brooks said he would fight cuts in key business and tourism centres, particularly when they posed a threat to rural communities.

"We hope these remain a far-fetched suggestion and not a genuine proposal," he said.

"The council is particularly worried about plans for fewer stops at stations in the Tyne Valley.

"It is also concerned about whether the council will be expected to fund replacement buses to rural communities currently served by train.

"We will be watching developments very closely and liaising with the Department for Transport to try to ensure that residents get the best bus and rail services possible."

Network Rail, which would implement any proposals agreed, has issued a statement.

"Northumberland County Council can be reassured that work on the strategy document looking at the future of services in the area has only just begun," the statement said.

"Network Rail inherited many review documents from the Strategic Rail Authority; these will form just a tiny part of a massive six to nine month review process.

"This process involves detailed consultation with all stakeholders before recommendations are put forward to the Department for Transport."