Whitehaven railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Whitehaven
code = WTH


manager = Northern Rail
locale = Whitehaven
borough = Copeland
usage0405 = 0.174
platforms = 2
start = 1847

Whitehaven Railway Station is a train station serving the town of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line 63 km (39½ miles) south east of Carlisle.

It is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services. A new transport interchange is planned as part of a new development with Tesco, with this a brand new bus station and platforms is included in the plans. Whitehaven is now one of Northern Rail's top rural stations showing a year-on-year passenger and revenue growth.

The station (which was opened by the "Whitehaven Junction Railway" in 1847) formerly had four operational platforms, but today only two remain in use (the former platforms three and four having lost their tracks in the mid eighties). The double line from Parton becomes single opposite the station signal box (which still bears the original station name "Whitehaven Bransty") and then splits into two - one runs into platform one (a bay used by most terminating services from Carlisle) and other runs into platform two, which is the through line to Sellafield and beyond. Trains heading south must collect a token for the single line section to St Bees from a machine on the platform (with permission from the signaller) before they can proceed. Conversely trains from Barrow must surrender the token upon arrival, the driver returning it to the machine before departing for Workington. Only then can the signaller allow another train to enter the single line section.

The line then passes through the 1219m long Bransty Tunnel to pass beneath the town on it's way south. The route onwards from here was opened in 1850 by the "Whitehaven & Furness Junction Railway", which later became part of the Furness Railway.

ervice

Many trains on the route from Carlisle terminate here, including those from Sunderland. It is generally an hourly service to and from Carlisle and an irregular service (eight trains each way) southbound to and from Barrow-in-Furness. On Sundays, three trains a day run to and from Carlisle but there is no service to Barrow.

References

*"A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume XIV: The Lake Counties". Joy, D (1983) Atlantic Transport Publishers ISBN 9780946537020

External links

* [http://www.northernrail.org Northern Rail]
* [http://www.crug.org.uk Copeland Rail Users' Group]
* [http://www.railbrit.co.uk/Whitehaven_Junction_Railway/frame.htm Whitehaven Junction Railway at Railscot]

* [http://217.23.229.206/jpclient.exe?b=Whitehaven+(rail+station)&SubmitQuery Buses from the station]
* [http://217.23.229.206/jpclient.exe?e=Whitehaven+(rail+station)&SubmitQuery Buses to the station]