Alan Williams, speaking at the Railfuture meeting yesterday, told us that the Esk Valley Partnership priority was the return to eight trains per day between Middlesbrough & Whitby with suitable morning and evening trains to allow commuting for business or education. What has this got to do with the Coastline? Well, the idea would be to extend alternate Nunthorpe trains to Whitby. It is hoped that financing would come from the £7m section 106 grant which is built into the planning consent for the new proposed potash mine. The snag being that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has a track access grant for Grosmont to Whitby taking all the spare paths until 2023. However some of the £7m may be spent on a new passing loop east of Sleights together with updated signalling to try to solve the problem.