Carlisle railway station

This article is about the English railway station. For the Australian station, see Carlisle railway station, Perth.
Carlisle National Rail
Carlisle Citadel
Location
Place Carlisle
Local authority City of Carlisle
Coordinates 54°53′28″N 2°56′02″W / 54.891°N 2.934°W / 54.891; -2.934Coordinates: 54°53′28″N 2°56′02″W / 54.891°N 2.934°W / 54.891; -2.934
Grid reference NY401555
Operations
Station code CAR
Managed by Virgin Trains
Owned by Network Rail
Number of platforms 8
DfT category B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 1.741 million
– Interchange  Decrease 0.250 million
2011/12 Increase 1.787 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.326 million
2012/13 Decrease 1.770 million
– Interchange  Decrease 0.320 million
2013/14 Increase 1.815 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.327 million
2014/15 Increase 1.909 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.351 million
History
Original company Caledonian Railway/Lancaster and Carlisle Railway joint
Pre-grouping Caledonian Railway/London and North Western Railway joint
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1 September 1847 Opened as Carlisle Citadel
1875 Extended
(after 1948) Renamed Carlisle
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Carlisle from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station serving the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying 102 miles (164 km) south east of Glasgow Central, and 299 miles (481 km) north north west of London Euston. It is also the northern terminus of the celebrated Settle and Carlisle Line – notionally (and historically) a continuation of the Midland Main Line from Leeds, Sheffield and ultimately London St Pancras. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

History

The station was built in 1847, in a neo-Tudor style to the designs of William Tite.[2] It was then one of a number of stations in the city – the others were at Crown Street (Maryport & Carlisle Railway) and London Road (Newcastle and Carlisle Railway) – but had become the main one by 1851; it was expanded and extended in 1875–76, with the arrival of the Midland Railway (who became the seventh different company to serve it).

The Beeching Axe saw two significant rail closures including the former North British Railway lines to Silloth (closed on 7 September 1964) and Edinburgh via Galashiels (the Waverley Line, closed on 6 January 1969). The closure programme also claimed the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway and Portpatrick Railway (the "Port Road") in 1965, resulting in a significant mileage increase via the Glasgow South Western Line & Ayr to reach Stranraer Harbour and thus Northern Ireland.

The layout has though undergone few changes of any significance other than the singling of the ex-NER Tyne Valley route down to London Road Junction as part of the 1972–73 re-signalling scheme associated with WCML electrification.

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Carlisle (shown here as CITADEL STATION)

Rail network in the Carlisle area

Legend
Up arrow Waverley Route to Edinburgh
Gretna Junction
Scotland
England
Gretna
Longtown
Longtown MOD Depot
Floriston

Lyneside

Harker
Rockcliffe

Kingmoor Marshalling Yard

Brunthill
Stainton

Etterby Junction
Port Carlisle Junction
Carlisle Kingmoor TMD
Willowholme Junction

Port Carlisle Branch Junction
Caldew Junction
Carlisle Citadel

Carlisle South Junction
Rome Street Junction

London Road Junction

Currock Junction
Upperby Junction
Upperby TMD

Upperby Bridge Junction
Brisco

Carlisle London Road
Wreay

Petteril Bridge Junction

LowerLeft arrow Settle and Carlisle Line to Settle
Down arrow
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
to Newcastle

Accidents and incidents

Layout and services

Station frontage

Long-distance services are operated by Virgin Trains, with the main routes being London EustonGlasgow Central and Scotland–Birmingham New Street. Caledonian Sleeper passengers from/to London Euston may also alight/board here. Northern operate local stopping services to Newcastle Central via the Tyne Valley Line, to Barrow-in-Furness via the Cumbrian Coast Line, and to Leeds via the scenic Settle–Carlisle Line. Abellio ScotRail also operate services to Glasgow Central via Dumfries and Kilmarnock. There are 8 platforms at the station in total – 3 through and 5 bays, organised as follows (from west to east):

There are stabling roads between Platforms 3 and 4 in the train shed, and a loop around Platform 1. There are several electrified sidings to the west of Platform 1. There are substantial buildings on both the western island and the main up platform on the east side, with the main station buffet on the former and the travel centre/ticket office and shop on the latter. Both main platforms have waiting rooms and toilets and are linked by a fully accessible footbridge.

Freight trains formerly used a goods line to the west to bypass the station, but this was closed in 1984 after a runaway rake of container wagons derailed at high speed on the River Caldew bridge at Dentonholme, damaging it beyond economic repair.[4] Nearly all freight services (apart from those running directly from the Cumbrian Coast Line toward the Tyne Valley Line or the Settle–Carlisle Line, or vice versa) now have to use one of the main platform lines when passing through the station, which can cause congestion at peak times.

2008

Service frequencies on each route varied – on Mondays to Saturdays there were trains every one or two hours to London and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operated seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there was a basic hourly service to both Newcastle and Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (six trains per day M–F, seven SO) and to Barrow-in-Furness (seven).

On Sundays the service was hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds and Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There were two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

The Up 'Caledonian' leaving Carlisle in 1960

2009

Service frequencies on the West Coast Main Line improved somewhat following the introduction of the new VHF timetable by Virgin Trains. From Mondays to Saturdays there were now trains every hour to London for much of the day (although one service from Euston no longer stopped here, running non-stop between Preston and Glasgow) and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operated seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there was a basic hourly service to both Newcastle and Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (seven per day Mon–Sat since the May 2011 timetable alterations) and to Barrow-in-Furness (eight).

On Sundays the service was hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds and Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There were two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

2016

The following trains call at Carlisle:

Virgin Trains

Provide two trains per hour to London Euston for most of the day with one service going via Birmingham. One train per hour runs to Glasgow Central and an additional service runs every two hours to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central (alternating).[5]

TransPennine Express

Provide an hourly service to Manchester Airport and a two-hourly service to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central (alternating).

Abellio ScotRail

Provide fifteen daily departures (twenty on Saturdays and five on Sundays). A two-hourly service runs to Glasgow via Dumfries for most of the day (with one or two longer gaps during the day) with a few other service terminating at Dumfries. More trains run on Saturdays; Sunday sees five departures to Dumfries with two continuing to Glasgow via Kilmarnock.[6]

Northern

Northern provide the following service:

Since May 2013, there are now four trains to Leeds on Sundays (including one through to Nottingham) but only a single DalesRail service to Blackpool North via Preston. From 15 September 2013 the DalesRail direct service ceased for the winter, but the lunchtime service to Leeds now has a connection at Hellifield for stations along the Ribble Valley line to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool North.

Virgin Trains East Coast

Virgin Trains East Coast call at Carlisle a couple of weekends a year when the ECML line is closed for any engineering work, They provide mainly hourly service to London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, These trains are irregular and only operate a few times a year. Another major change from the start of the 2013–14 timetable is the extension of most WCML Birmingham services through to London Euston.

Caledonian Sleeper

All Caledonian Sleeper services pass through Carlisle once a night except Saturdays (and engineering diversions) on their journey between London Euston and several Scottish destinations. Passengers may only board the London-bound service from Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley, or only alight services in the opposite direction. Services from/to London Euston to/from Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William run as a separate train that runs through Carlisle without a scheduled stop.

Adverse Weather Disruption in Winter 2015-16

All services toward Glasgow & Edinburgh over the WCML were suspended due to flood-related damage to the River Clyde bridge at Lamington (caused by Storm Frank). A limited number of trains to & from Glasgow were being diverted via Dumfries, whilst most others were replaced by express coaches. Repair work was initially expected to take at least 4 weeks to complete and services were not expected to restart over the structure until March 2016.[10] Following better than expected weather conditions and delivery of key components earlier than planned, the work was completed ahead of schedule and trains resumed on 22 February 2016.[11] This follows on from previous disruption caused by Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015 - flooding just north of the station at the bridge over the River Caldew led to a temporary suspension of services to and from Scotland and subsequent major delays to trains for more than two weeks.

Services towards Newcastle & Leeds are also being disrupted at the same time due to weather-related landslips near Corbridge and Armathwaite respectively. A replacement bus service ran between Hexham & Prudhoe whilst repairs were carried out on the Tyne Valley line.[12] The line reopened to traffic on 8 February 2016. Services on the Settle line still ran initially, but as only one line was available between Cotehill and Culgaith & capacity was therefore restricted, an emergency timetable was in operation with extended journey times and some trains being replaced by buses.[13] Further ground movement at the landslip site at Eden Brows led to the suspension of all services as far south as Appleby on 9 February 2016, as Network Rail engineers deemed that it was no longer safe to operate trains over the affected portion of line. The line will remain closed "for several months" (likely until early 2017) whilst the damaged embankment is underpinned and stabilised, and the track and formation repaired.[14] Network Rail have now started work on the £23 million project to repair the embankment & formation, with an estimated completion date of March 2017.[15] Replacement buses will continue to operate to either Armathwaite or Appleby until then.

The 'Royal Scot' entering Carlisle in 1960

See also

References

Notes

  1. Historic England. "Citadel Station (1196969)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  2. The British Almanac. 1849. p. 247.
  3. Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 39. ISBN 0-906899-37-0.
  4. 1 2 Cumbrian Railways Bog Junction to Willowholme Junction, Carlisle Rawlinson, R - Cumbrian Railways website article; Retrieved 2013-07-25
  5. GB National Rail Timetable May 2016 Edition, Table 65 (Network Rail)
  6. GB NRT, Table 216
  7. GB NRT, Table 100
  8. GB NRT, Table 48
  9. GB NRT, Table 42
  10. Work on Lamington Viaduct to continue throughout February Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 19 January 2016
  11. "West Coast Mainline to reopen next Monday" Fallowfield, C; Cumbria Crack news article 15 February 2016
  12. Railway between Hexham and Prudhoe will be closed for weeks after Corbridge landslip Riddell, Kathryn Newcastle Chronicle article 8 January 2016
  13. Settle-Carlisle Railway - emergency engineering works north of Applebysettle-carlisle.co.uk Retrieved 1 February 2016
  14. "Railway between Carlisle and Appleby to be closed for months after major landslipNetwork Rail Media Centre 12 February 2016; Retrieved 15 February 2016
  15. £23m landslip repair set to reopen Settle-Carlisle railway line in March 2017Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 7 July 2016

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carlisle railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Haltwhistle   Abellio ScotRail
Glasgow South Western Line
  Gretna Green
Watford Junction   Caledonian Sleeper
Lowland Caledonian Sleeper
  Carstairs
Wetheral   Northern
Tyne Valley Line
  Terminus
Armathwaite   Northern
Settle-Carlisle Line
  Terminus
Terminus   Northern
Cumbrian Coast Line
  Dalston
Penrith
or
Oxenholme
  Virgin Trains
West Coast Main Line
  Lockerbie
or
Motherwell
or
Glasgow Central
or
Haymarket
Penrith
or
Oxenholme
  TransPennine Express
TransPennine North West
  Lockerbie
or
Haymarket
Historical railways
Terminus   Caledonian Railway
CR Main Line
  Rockcliffe
Terminus   North British Railway
Border Union Railway
  Harker
Terminus   North British Railway
Carlisle and Port Carlisle Railway
and Dock Company
  Kirkandrews
Terminus   Maryport and Carlisle Railway   Cummersdale
Line open, station closed
Brisco   London and North Western Railway
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway
  Terminus
Scotby   Midland Railway
Settle and Carlisle Line
  Terminus
Scotby   North Eastern Railway
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
  Terminus
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