Manors railway station

Manors is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station serves the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Manors
Location	Newcastle upon Tyne, City of Newcastle upon Tyne England
Coordinates	54°58′22″N 1°36′20″W
Grid reference	NZ252642
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
Platforms	2
Tracks	3
Connections	Manors
Other information
Station code	MAS
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway British Rail (Eastern Region)
Key dates
1 July 1847	Opened as Manors
1 January 1909	Renamed Manors East; adjacent station opened as Manors North
20 February 1969	Stations merged as Manors
23 January 1978	Former Manors North closed
Passengers
2015/16	7,614
2016/17	9,404
2017/18	9,068
2018/19	12,980
2019/20	17,346
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The Tyne and Wear Metro station of the same name is not directly connected, and is located a short walk away.

Manors was previously a much larger and more significant station at the junction of the main line and the line towards Gosforth. It had nine platforms. Most of the station was closed in 1978 when the Gosforth line was turned over to the Tyne and Wear Metro and the buildings were subsequently demolished to make way for offices.[1]

History

The original station named Manors was opened on 1 July 1847 by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway,[2] which amalgamated with the York and Newcastle Railway to form the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway a few weeks later. Manors station opened on 30 August 1850 to replace a temporary station that became a coal depot, and had two platforms on a bridge over Trafalgar Street. When the East Coast Main Line was widened to four tracks in 1887, an additional two platforms were built.[1]

On 1 January 1909,[2] the former Blyth and Tyne Railway terminus at New Bridge Street closed and the line was extended to join the East Coast Main Line between Manors and Newcastle Central. Manors North was opened on this line, with two through platforms and three bays. The original station was renamed Manors East.[2] The former station at New Bridge Street became a coal yard[3] which supplied customers in the east of the city.

When the two stations were combined on 20 February 1969,[2] Manors North formed platforms 1–5 and Manors East platforms 6–9.

Electric train at Manors North in June 1967

From 1904 until 1967 the lines through the station were electrified as part of the Tyneside Electrics system with the third-rail (North Tyneside Loop) and a short overhead electrification from Trafalgar South yard (Newcastle Quayside branch). The East Coast Main Line was re-electrified in 1990. There were three signal boxes that controlled the approaches to the Manors area - Argyle Street (187? - 1964), Manors North (1909 - 1964), Manors Junction (1909 - 1964). A major re-signalling of the Newcastle district in 1964 resulted in the closure of these boxes. The original Manors Junction signal box was burnt out in 1943, and its replacement was at the western end of Manors East, between platforms 7 and 8.

In addition to the busy electric service to the coast, Manors was a terminus for trains to Morpeth, Blyth and Newbiggin. Although the Morpeth service had gone by BR days, the Blyth/Newbiggin passenger route survived until 1964.[4] In LNER days, the bay platforms were used as standage for electric sets and for short workings to Benton.

Reconstruction

Most platforms at Manors closed on 23 January 1978[2] to allow for the construction of the Tyne and Wear Metro. The station now has two platforms, on the site of the previous platforms 7 and 8. Other parts of the former station remain, including the heavily overgrown platforms 1 and 2 and parts of platform 9.[5] The station is unstaffed, and the only facilities are a shelter with a telephone, a bike rack and a ticket machine (card only). The platforms are reached by a footbridge rather than by the original subway, so the station is not accessible for wheelchair or mobility-impaired users.[6]

Manors station is very popular with railway photographers and enthusiasts because it lies in the middle of the tracks of the East Coast Main Line allowing very good views of passing trains, which include freight, passenger and empty stock movements to/from the maintenance depot at Heaton. The station received a new shelter, cycle racks, seats and a timetable information board in early 2015 as requested by a small group of enthusiasts.[7]

Accidents and incidents

• On 3 March 1913, an empty stock train was in a rear-end collision with an electric multiple unit due to a signalman's error. Forty-nine people were injured.[8]
• On 7 August 1926, an electric multiple unit overran signals and was in collision with a freight train. The driver had tied the controller down and thus the train was able to continue when he leant out of the train and was killed when he struck an overbridge.[9]

Services

Route 1: East Coast Main Line
Chathill Alnmouth for Alnwick Acklington Widdrington Pegswood Morpeth Cramlington Manors Newcastle
Most services extend to/from Carlisle.

There is a basic hourly service on Mondays to Saturdays operated by Northern Trains, which runs between Carlisle and Morpeth via Newcastle - one evening peak service continues through to Alnmouth and Chathill and the corresponding morning train from there also calls.[10] This runs right through the evening until end of service and is a noticeable improvement on the weekday peak-only service that the station formerly received in the 1980s, 90s & early 2000s.[11]

Since December 2017, the station is also served on Sundays, by the two-hourly Morpeth to MetroCentre trains.

The proposed Newcastle to Ashington Northumberland Line service, if introduced, has been proposed to call at Manors enroute from Newcastle to Benton North Junction, where the line diverges from the East Coast Main Line.[12]

In popular culture

The station briefly featured in the 1971 film Get Carter, showing the long staircase from the Trafalgar Street entrance to Manors East.

See also

• Manors – the adjacent Tyne and Wear Metro station

References

1. Disused Stations - Manors Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine Disused Stations; Retrieved 2014-02-20
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 154. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. Disused Stations - Newbiggin Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2013-12-04
5. "Disused Stations - Manors North Station". Disused Stations Site Record. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
6. Manors station facilities Archived 7 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries; retrieved 6 February 2017
7. "Manors Station - Community Group". Manors Station Twitter. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
8. Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-52-4.
9. Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
10. GB National Rail timetable May 2019, Table 48
11. GB National Rail Timetables 1988 & 1994 Editions, Table 47
12. "Plans to hook up Northumberland to Metro station via new rail link to return passenger train services from south-east of county to Newcastle". Berwick Advertiser. 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.

External links

• Media related to Manors railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Manors railway station from National Rail