Cramlington railway station

Cramlington is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 9 miles 74 chains (9.92 mi; 16.0 km) north of Newcastle, serves the town of Cramlington in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Cramlington
National Rail
General information
LocationCramlington, Northumberland
England
Coordinates55°05′16″N 1°35′55″W / 55.0877657°N 1.5986859°W / 55.0877657; -1.5986859
Grid referenceNZ257771
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeCRM
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyNewcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1 March 1847Opened
Passengers
2018/19Increase 107,800
2019/20Increase 136,534
2020/21Decrease 29,804
2021/22Increase 111,440
2022/23Increase 133,834
Location
Cramlington is located in Northumberland
Cramlington
Cramlington
Location in Northumberland, England
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

edit

The station was opened by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway on 1 March 1847.[1]

From November 2021 to May 2022, the footbridge was refurbished.[2]

Facilities

edit

The station is unstaffed.[3] In February 2019, the local Council installed a ticket machine on the southbound platform. The machine allows contactless, and card for tickets, as well as being able to collect tickets. Travel tickets can still be purchased on board the train. There are waiting shelters on both platforms (but no other permanent buildings), along with timetable posters and next train real-time information boards to offer train running details. Step-free access is available to both platforms, though the footbridge linking them has steps.[3]

Northumberland County Council and the local rail users group SENRUG is campaigning to relocate the station to a new site 200 metres south of its present position, in order to better serve the town's Manor Walks shopping centre, Westmorland Retail Park and main employment areas.[4][5] The proposed site would also allow for the construction of a dedicated bus-rail interchange, a larger car park and serve several residential estates to the west built in the 1960s and 1970s.

Services

edit

Northern Trains

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

As of the December 2023 timetable change, there is an hourly service between Newcastle and Morpeth on weekdays and Saturdays. Most services extend to Carlisle via Hexham. At peak times, two trains per day (excluding Sunday) extend to/from Chathill.

Sundays see a two-hourly service each way to and from the MetroCentre. At present, all services are operated by Northern Trains.[6]

Rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter

TransPennine Express

edit

In September 2021, TransPennine Express announced that they were seeking approval to have some of the services on their new five return trains weekday semi-fast Newcastle to Edinburgh return trains call at Cramlington.[7] As of December 2023, TransPennine Express operate a limited service of one train to Newcastle on Mondays to Saturday mornings, with no Sunday service and no northbound service.

Rolling stock used: Class 802 Nova 1

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Manors
towards Newcastle
  Northern Trains
East Coast Main Line
  Morpeth
towards Morpeth or Chathill
Newcastle   TransPennine Express
(North TransPennine)
Southbound only, Mondays to Saturdays only
  Morpeth
  Historical railways  
Annitsford   North Eastern Railway
York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
  Plessey

Accidents and incidents

edit
  • On 26 May 1926, during the General Strike, an express passenger train, hauled by LNER A1 4-6-2 No. 2565 Merry Hampton, was deliberately derailed south of the station.[8][9]

References

edit
  1. ^ Quick, Michael E. (2009). Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
  2. ^ Smith, Roger (13 May 2022). "WATCH: Timelapse footage of Northumberland railway station footbridge upgrade". RailAdvent. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b Cramlington station facilities Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 6 February 2017
  4. ^ "New Cramlington railway station could boost local economy" Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine Northumberland County Council press release 27 September 2016; Retrieved 6 February 2017
  5. ^ "Move Cramlington Station" Archived 20 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine South East Northumberland Rail Users Group; Retrieved 6 February 2017
  6. ^ Table 43 National Rail timetable, December 2023
  7. ^ "TransPennine Express announces new rail services for Northumberland". International Railway Reviews. 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  8. ^ Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 4. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 44. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.
  9. ^ Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-906899-37-0.
edit