Morpeth railway station

Morpeth National Rail

Morpeth railway station buildings
Location
Place Morpeth
Local authority County of Northumberland
Coordinates 55°09′44″N 1°40′58″W / 55.1622°N 1.6829°W / 55.1622; -1.6829Coordinates: 55°09′44″N 1°40′58″W / 55.1622°N 1.6829°W / 55.1622; -1.6829
Grid reference NZ202853
Operations
Station code MPT
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 0.244 million
2011/12 Increase 0.268 million
2012/13 Increase 0.285 million
2013/14 Increase 0.316 million
2014/15 Increase 0.335 million
History
Original company Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping LNER
1 March 1847 (1847-03-01)[1] Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Morpeth from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Morpeth railway station is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line in Northumberland, northern England, serving the town of Morpeth.

History

The station was opened by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway on 1 March 1847.[1] It was designed by Benjamin Green in the Scottish Baronial style and retains its original station buildings.

A severe ninety degree curve in the line of the railway immediately to the south of the station has been the site of four serious rail accidents, two of them fatal.

Blyth and Tyne Railway

Another station was opened by the Blyth and Tyne Railway on 1 April 1858 and closed 24 May 1880.[2] This was a terminus station that was also used by North British Railway trains from the west from Scots Gap[3] from the opening of their line in 1862 until 1872.[4] The B&T line to Bedlington lost its passenger trains in April 1950 (although occasional summer services between Scotland and the North Eastern coastal resorts continued operating over it until the 1960s), but it remains in use for freight and may have its passenger trains restored in the future (as an extension of the current local stopping service) - the South East Northumberland Rail User Group is currently campaigning for this.[5] Passenger trains over the old NBR line from Scots Gap and Reedsmouth/Rothbury ended in September 1952[6] and it closed completely in 1966 - few traces of this route now remain.

Services

Morpeth station is served by Virgin Trains East Coast intercity trains running to London and Edinburgh. Northern operates a regular local service from here to Newcastle Central and MetroCentre (hourly Mondays - Saturdays) - two services per day continue northwards to Alnmouth and Chathill. Northern do not run services to Morpeth on a Sunday so services are provided by VTEC and CrossCountry.[7] Since December 2005 a few long distance services operated by CrossCountry have also stopped at Morpeth.[8] TransPennine Express will start calling here from December 2019, when the current Liverpool to Newcastle service is extended to Edinburgh.[9]

In December 2011 a self-service FastTicket machine was installed by Northern. Pre-purchased tickets can now also be collected from Morpeth.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Newcastle Central   CrossCountry
Cross Country Network		   Alnmouth
  Virgin Trains East Coast
London-Edinburgh		  
Cramlington   Northern
East Coast Main Line		   Terminus
or
Pegswood
Historical railways
Stannington
Line open; Station closed		   North Eastern Railway
Newcastle and Berwick Railway
   Pegswood
Line and Station open
Meldon
Line and Station closed		   North British Railway
Wansbeck Railway
   Terminus
Terminus   North Eastern Railway
Blyth and Tyne Railway
   Hepscott
Line open; Station closed

Future

In May 2016 ORR gave the green light to a new operator called East Coast Trains which would operate services to Edinburgh Waverley via Stevenage, Newcastle & Morpeth. The operate would begin operation in 2021.[10][11][12]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morpeth railway station.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Butt 1995, p. 163
  2. ↑ "Northumbrian Railways; Blyth and Tyne stations". Northumbrian-railways.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  3. ↑ "SENRUG // South East Northumberland Rail User Group: Morpeth 'Then & Now'". Senrug.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  4. ↑ Disused Stations - Morpeth B & T www.disused-stations.org.uk; Retrieved 2013-12-04
  5. ↑ "Re-open Ashington Blyth Tyne Line". Senrug.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  6. ↑ Body (1989), p.126
  7. ↑ GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Table 48 (Network Rail)
  8. ↑ GB NRT, Tables 26 & 51
  9. ↑ TransPennine Express franchise improvements - Morpeth (DfT)
  10. ↑ Applications for the East Coast Main Line Office of Rail and Road 12 May 2016
  11. ↑ First Group to run Edinburgh to London budget rail service BBC News 12 May 2016
  12. ↑ VTEC and FirstGroup granted East Coast Main Line paths Railway Gazette International 12 May 2016

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.