Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

Berwick-upon-Tweed National Rail
Panoramic view of Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station
Location
Place Berwick-upon-Tweed
Local authority County of Northumberland
Coordinates 55°46′30″N 2°00′40″W / 55.775°N 2.011°W / 55.775; -2.011Coordinates: 55°46′30″N 2°00′40″W / 55.775°N 2.011°W / 55.775; -2.011
Grid reference NT994534
Operations
Station code BWK
Managed by London North Eastern Railway
Number of platforms 2
DfT category C1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 0.502 million
– Interchange  Increase 1,123
2013/14 Increase 0.527 million
– Interchange  Increase 1,167
2014/15 Increase 0.539 million
– Interchange  Increase 1,339
2015/16 Decrease 0.529 million
– Interchange  Increase 1,430
2016/17 Increase 0.540 million
– Interchange  Decrease 1,293
History
Key dates Opened 1847[1] (1847[1])
Original company North British Railway / Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-grouping North British Railway / North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping LNER
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Berwick-upon-Tweed from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Plaque commemorating the former Great Hall of Berwick Castle

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. It is 335 miles 56 chains (540.3 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between Chathill to the south and Dunbar to the north. Its three-letter station code is BWK.

It is the most northerly railway station in England, being less than three miles from the border with Scotland. The station, with its long single island platform, lies immediately to the north of the Royal Border Bridge.

History

In 1847, the Great Hall of Berwick Castle had to be demolished to make way for the new station (the former West Wall of the castle still marks the boundary of the now-defunct station goods yard), which opened the following year. This replaced an initial structure erected by the North British Railway, whose line from the north first reached the town in 1846.[2] The Newcastle and Berwick Railway meanwhile reached the southern bank of the River Tweed in March 1847, but it was another eighteen months before a temporary viaduct across the river was commissioned to allow through running between Edinburgh and Newcastle. This in turn was replaced by the current Royal Border Bridge in July 1850.[3] The station was rebuilt by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1927 and the buildings are Grade-II listed.[4]

The station was also at one time served by local stopping trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh and the branch line from Newtown St Boswells via Kelso (which joined the main line at Tweedmouth, on the other side of the river) from 1851 until closure in 1964.[5]

Berwick station in 1970

For approximately 5 months in 1979, this was the terminal station for services from London King's Cross after the East Coast Main Line was blocked by the collapse of Penmanshiel Tunnel. Buses linked this station with Dunbar, from where a railway shuttle service continued to Edinburgh Waverley.

Facilities

The station has a council-run car park nearby, and is staffed throughout the week during working hours.[6] A self-service ticket machine is available for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Other facilities on offer on the concourse include a waiting room, Cafe Express coffee shop, vending machine, payphone and toilets, whilst there is a First Class lounge on the platform. The two are linked by a fully accessible footbridge with lifts. Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, automatic announcements and timetable posters.

Services

London North Eastern Railway supplies an hourly service that stops here. They go southbound to London Kings Cross calling at Newcastle, Darlington and York en route. In the other direction, there are services to Edinburgh with a few extensions to Aberdeen and one extension per day to each of Glasgow Central , Stirling and Inverness.[7] CrossCountry provide a two-hourly service in each direction during the day. Their services are mostly provided to Glasgow Central via Edinburgh northbound, though there is one service to and from Dundee.[8] In the southbound direction there are services to Plymouth via Leeds and Birmingham New Street with a couple of extensions per day to Penzance and also a daily service to Reading.

Abellio ScotRail will start running five trains a day between Berwick Upon Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley, with calling points at Dunbar and Musselburgh, from 2018.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Butt (1995)
  2. ↑ Body, p.35
  3. ↑ Body, p.36
  4. ↑ Pastscape - Berwick-upon-Tweed station Historic England; retrieved 9 February 2017
  5. ↑ "Kelso railway station history (www.border-net.co.uk)". Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  6. ↑ Berwick-upon-Tweed station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  7. ↑ GB National Railway Timetable 2016-17, Table 26
  8. ↑ Table 51 National Rail timetable, December 2016

Sources

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Alnmouth   CrossCountry
Cross Country Network		   Dunbar
Alnmouth   London North Eastern Railway
London-Edinburgh stopping services		   Dunbar
Newcastle   London North Eastern Railway
London-Edinburgh express services		   Edinburgh Waverley
  Historical railways  
connection to
Newcastle and Berwick Railway		   North British Railway
NBR Main Line
   Burnmouth
Line open; station closed
Tweedmouth
Line open; station closed		   Newcastle and Berwick Railway   connection to
North British Railway
  • Anderson, David (July 1996). "Steam Days at Berwick-upon-Tweed". Steam Days. 83: 403–13.
  • Anon. (May–June 1966). "Berwick". Perspective East Yorkshire. 15: 359.
  • 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.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Stoton, Frederick (1909). "Berwick-on-Tweed (North British Railway)". Railway Magazine. 24: 473–8.
  • Warn, C. (Spring 1980). "Berwick area railways". Northumbriana. 19: 21–3.
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