Widdrington railway station

Widdrington is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station serves the villages of Widdrington Station and Stobswood in Northumberland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Widdrington
Location	Widdrington Station and Stobswood, Northumberland England
Coordinates	55°14′28″N 1°36′58″W
Grid reference	NZ244941
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	WDD
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
Passengers
2015/16	3,408
2016/17	3,346
2017/18	3,574
2018/19	4,180
2019/20	3,636
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

In the current (December 2016) timetable the only trains calling at Widdrington are one northbound and two southbound local services on Mondays to Saturdays only by Northern, which also manages the station. This has been the default frequency since British Rail's Provincial Sector reduced the service level on the local route in 1991 due to a rolling stock shortage.

Local rail users group SENRUG has been campaigning since September 2016 to improve local services here and at neighbouring Pegswood in order to serve a planned £50 million sports and leisure park development due to be built on an old open-cast mining site near to Widdrington village.[1]

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has only basic amenities - waiting shelters and timetable poster boards on both platforms, along with a public telephone on platform 1. Tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on the train. The old station buildings survive, but are now privately occupied. Step-free access is available to both platforms via the level crossing at the north end of the station.[2]

Services

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

As noted above, there are only three departures a day on weekdays and Saturdays, with no Sunday service. The solitary northbound train runs to Alnmouth and Chathill, whilst the two southbound trains run to Newcastle Central and then onto the Tyne Valley Line.[3] The morning departure terminates at Prudhoe, whilst the evening service runs through to Carlisle.

References

1. North of Morpeth local services Archived 14 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine SENRUG website news article; Retrieved 9 February 2017
2. Widdrington station facilities Archived 6 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 9 February 2017
3. Table 48 National Rail timetable, December 2016

External links

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