Alnmouth railway station

Alnmouth (also known as Alnmouth for Alnwick) is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 34 miles 69 chains (34.9 miles; 56.1 kilometres) north of Newcastle, serves the coastal and rural villages of Alnmouth and Lesbury and the neighbouring market town of Alnwick in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Alnmouth

Alnmouth for Alnwick
National Rail
General information
LocationAlnmouth, Northumberland
England
Coordinates55°23′34″N 1°38′12″W
Grid referenceNU230110
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeALM
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyYork, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1 July 1847Opened as Bilton
2 May 1892Renamed Alnmouth
23 May 2003Renamed Alnmouth for Alnwick
Passengers
2017/18Increase 0.340 million
2018/19Increase 0.345 million
2019/20Steady 0.345 million
 Interchange  313
2020/21Decrease 61,222
 Interchange Decrease 73
2021/22Increase 0.286 million
 Interchange Increase 294
Location
Alnmouth is located in Northumberland
Alnmouth
Alnmouth
Location in Northumberland, England
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station was opened on 1 July 1847 as Bilton by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway[1][2] and from 1854 run by the North Eastern Railway. On 19 August 1850 it became the junction for the Alnwick branch line and was significantly upgraded by the NER in 1887–88.[3] On 2 May 1892 the station's name was changed to Alnmouth.[1][4]

It became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the North Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The Alnwick branch service was withdrawn in January 1968, with freight traffic ending in October the same year. The station had an additional platform face on the 'down' (northbound) side for use by branch trains, but this lost its track in the early 1970s after the branch closed (along with the buildings on that side) and was removed altogether prior to the station being refurbished in 2004. The main building on the southbound platform is not original – it was erected in 1987 to replace the original structures constructed when the Alnwick branch opened in 1850.

When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by the Intercity Sector until the privatisation of British Rail.

Facilities

Station buildings

The station is staffed, with the ticket office on platform 1 open every day of the week (06:40-18:15 Mon-Sat, 10:20-21:30 Sundays). A self-service ticket machine is also provided (this can be used to collect pre-paid tickets as well as for use when the booking office is closed). There is a waiting shelter and help point on platform 2 as well as a waiting room, vending machine and toilets on platform 1. Level access is available to both platforms via lifts in the footbridge. Train running information is offered via automated announcements, digital displays and timetable posters.[5]

Services

London North Eastern Railway
Inverness
Carrbridge
Aviemore
Kingussie
Newtonmore
Blair Atholl
Pitlochry
Dunkeld & Birnam
Perth
Gleneagles
Dunblane
Stirling
Falkirk Grahamston
Aberdeen
Stonehaven
Montrose
Arbroath
Dundee
Leuchars
Kirkcaldy
Inverkeithing
Glasgow Central Glasgow Subway
Motherwell
Haymarket Edinburgh Trams
Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Trams
Dunbar
Reston
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Alnmouth
Morpeth
Sunderland Tyne and Wear Metro
Newcastle Tyne and Wear Metro
Durham
Darlington
Middlesbrough
Thornaby
Northallerton
Skipton
Keighley
Bradford Forster Square
York
Shipley
Harrogate
Horsforth
Hull Paragon
Brough
Selby
Leeds
Wakefield Westgate
Doncaster
Retford
Lincoln
Newark Northgate
Grantham
Peterborough
Stevenage
London King's Cross London Underground
Northern Trains
Route 1
East Coast Main Line
Chathill Parking
Alnmouth Parking Bicycle facilities
Acklington Parking Bicycle facilities
Widdrington Parking Bicycle facilities
Pegswood
Morpeth Parking Bicycle facilities
Cramlington Parking Bicycle facilities
Manors Tyne and Wear Metro
Newcastle Parking Bicycle facilities Handicapped/disabled access Tyne and Wear Metro
MetroCentre
Most services extend to/from
Carlisle.

Services at Alnmouth are operated by Northern Trains, CrossCountry, London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express.

The station is generally served by a two-hourly CrossCountry service between Edinburgh Waverley and Plymouth via Birmingham New Street, with some northbound services extending to Glasgow Central and Aberdeen. The station is also served by a two-hourly London North Eastern Railway service between Edinburgh and London King's Cross, with some northbound services also extending to Glasgow Central and Aberdeen. These services combine to give a roughly hourly off-peak service with additional services during the peak hours.[6][7]

Since December 2021, the station is also served by five trains per day between Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle which are operated by TransPennine Express.[6][8]

Northern Trains operate a limited service of four trains per day (two in the morning and two in the evening) northbound to Chathill and southbound to Newcastle. Both southbound services on weekdays and the morning service on Saturdays continue beyond Newcastle to Carlisle via Hexham.[6][9]

The Aln Valley heritage railway has long-term ambitions of extending its running line to Alnmouth station[10] from its current terminus at Greenrigg Halt.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Morpeth
or
Newcastle
  CrossCountry
  Berwick-upon-Tweed
or
Edinburgh Waverley
  London North Eastern Railway
 
Morpeth   TransPennine Express
  Berwick-upon-Tweed
Northern Trains
Limited Service
  Historical railways  
Warkworth
Line open, station closed
  York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway   Lesbury
Line open, station closed
Terminus   North Eastern Railway
  Alnwick
Line and station closed

References

  1. Butt 1995, p. 34
  2. Body 1989, p. 193
  3. "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EAST COAST MAIN LINE IN NORTHUMBERLAND" Archived 13 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Young, Alan Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 13 February 2017
  4. Butt 1995, p. 15
  5. Alnmouth station facilities Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 8 February 2017
  6. Table 26, 48, 51 National Rail timetable, May 2022
  7. "LNER Train Timetable" (PDF). London North Eastern Railway. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  8. "TransPennine Express announces new rail services for Northumberland". International Railway Reviews. 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  9. "Train times: Alnmouth and Morpeth to Newcastle and Metrocentre" (PDF). Northern Trains. 12 December 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  10. "About Us – Aln Valley Railway". Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.

Sources

  • Body, G. (1989). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: Northern operating area (1st ed.). Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0072-1. OCLC 59892452.
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