Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

Berwick-upon-Tweed
Main station building
General information
Location	Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England
Coordinates	55°46′28″N 2°00′38″W / 55.7745555°N 2.0105423°W / 55.7745555; -2.0105423
Grid reference	NT994534
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	London North Eastern Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BWK
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Original company	North British Railway; York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway; North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway; British Rail (North Eastern Region)
Key dates
22 June 1846	Opened as Berwick
1 January 1955	Renamed Berwick-upon-Tweed
Passengers
2020/21	0.142 million
Interchange	783
2021/22	0.590 million
Interchange	1,065
2022/23	0.568 million
Interchange	6,581
2023/24	0.630 million
Interchange	12,423
2024/25	0.707 million
Interchange	14,439
Location Berwick-upon-Tweed Location in Northumberland, England
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Berwick-upon-Tweed is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 67 miles (108 km) north-west of Newcastle, serves the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by London North Eastern Railway.

It is the most northerly railway station in England, being less than 3 miles (4.8 km) 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,^[a] which opened the following year.^[1] 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; this joined the main line at Tweedmouth, on the other side of the river, between 1851 until closure in 1964.^[5]

For approximately five months in 1979, this was the terminus 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 car park, with 124 spaces, and has bicycle storage facilities. It is staffed throughout the week during working hours; several self-service ticket machines are available for purchases and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Other facilities on offer on the concourse include a waiting room, Costa 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, audible announcements and timetable posters.^[6]

Services

The station is served by three train operating companies, which provide the following off-peak services in trains per hour/day (tph/tpd):

London North Eastern Railway:^[7]

• 1 tp2h to London King's Cross, via Newcastle, Darlington, York, Doncaster, Newark Northgate and Peterborough
• 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley; of which:
  • 3 tpd extend to Aberdeen, via Dundee
  • 1 tpd extends to Inverness, via Stirling, Perth and Aviemore.

CrossCountry:^[8]

• 1 tph to Plymouth, via Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham New Street and Bristol Temple Meads; of which:
  • 1 tpd extends to Penzance
• 1 tph to Edinburgh Waverley; of which:
  • 2 tpd extend to Glasgow Central, via Motherwell
  • 1 tpd extends to Aberdeen, via Dundee.

TransPennine Express:^[9]

• 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley, calling at Reston, Dunbar and East Linton
• 1 tp2h to Newcastle, calling at Alnmouth and Morpeth.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Alnmouth or Newcastle		CrossCountry		Dunbar or Edinburgh Waverley
		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Reston or Dunbar or Edinburgh Waverley
Alnmouth		TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Reston
	Historical railways
Terminus		North British Railway North British Railway Main Line		Burnmouth Line open; station closed
Tweedmouth Line open; station closed		North Eastern Railway York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway		Terminus

Notes

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station from National Rail