Workington railway station

Workington
Location
Place	Workington
Local authority	Allerdale
Coordinates	54°38′42″N 3°33′29″W / 54.645°N 3.558°WCoordinates: 54°38′42″N 3°33′29″W / 54.645°N 3.558°W
Grid reference	NX995288
Operations
Station code	WKG
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	120,245
2005/06	129,948
2006/07	133,435
2007/08	149,731
2008/09	138,238
2009/10	165,218
2010/11	176,866
2011/12	174,452
2012/13	185,128
2013/14	179,222
2014/15	197,204
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Workington from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Workington railway station serves the town of Workington in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line 33 miles (53 km) south west of Carlisle. Some through trains to the Furness Line and to Sunderland stop here. It is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services.

History and data

History

Workington station, August 1983

The present station is the second one to occupy the site. The first one was built at the opening of the original line and replaced by the London & North Western Railway who took over the Whitehaven Junction and Workington & Cockermouth lines in 1866. The Workington station in its present form was first known as Workington LNWR then at the grouping it was renamed Workington Main. With the end of steam the station then was referred to as 'Workington' railway station. Trains from the Cockermouth and Keswick direction ended with the closure of that branch to all traffic in April 1966, the line having fallen victim to the Beeching Axe.

A 1914 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing the complex network which existed in the Workington area

Layout

The station was built with yellow Crewe bricks and had four tracks running though the station. Two of the tracks which are not served by platforms were once used to stable Travelling Post Office carriages. There was also a twelve road engine shed, wagon repair shops, a coaling stage, a goods shed and a stable block, all built with local sandstone. In LMS days, a new turntable was installed behind the engine shed. In British Railways days the engine shed was rebuilt with a new roof and ferro concrete coaling stage and an ash disposal plant was built near to the new turntable. The road approach to the station entrance was remodelled in BR days when the highways near to the station were upgraded.

Temporary Workington North station

As a consequence of the November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods, Network Rail built a temporary additional station 1 mile (1.6 km) from the existing station on waste ground off the A596 adjacent to a business park.^[1] An additional hourly shuttle train (composed of a locomotive and at least three former inter-city mainline coaches) operated by Cumbrian-based Direct Rail Services (DRS) on behalf of Northern Rail, running from Workington northbound to Maryport was created in the aftermath of the floods.^[2][3][4] This service started on 30 November 2009 and ran until 28 May 2010.^[5] It was initially funded by the Department for Transport at a cost of £216,000. All services between Workington and Maryport were free of charge for this period.^[6]

Service

There is generally an hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Whitehaven with most daytime trains going onwards to Barrow-in-Furness.^[7] On Sundays, there are four trains each way between Carlisle and Whitehaven only - a modest improvement on the three departures each way that ran prior to the December 2013 timetable change.

References

1. "Station hope for town cut in two". BBC News. 24 November 2009.
2. Hume, Colette (30 November 2009). "Workington gets new rail station after Cumbria flood". BBC News Online. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
3. "Free shuttle train between Workington and Maryport". Times & Star. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
4. "New shuttle service on Cumbrian coast from Monday 30 November". Northern Rail. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009.
5. "FFREE CUMBRIA FLOODS TRAIN SERVICE TO FINISH NEXT WEEK". Carlisle Times and Star. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
6. "New hourly train to help reunite Cumbrian community". Department for Transport. 30 November 2009.
7. Northern Rail Timetable 6: Carlisle - Barrow - LancasterNorthern Rail; Retrieved 2013-12-04

External links

• Train times and station information for Workington railway station from National Rail
• Buses from the station
• Buses to the station

Workington Stations
Legend
Cumbrian Coast Line Cleator & Workington Junction Railway Workington North Cockermouth and Workington Railway Workington Bridge Steel Works Derwent Jct River Derwent Cloffocks Jct Workington Main Workington Central Cumbrian Coast Line Cleator & Workington Junction Railway

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Flimby		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line		Harrington
	Historical railways
Workington North Line open, station closed		Northern Rail Workington North railway station 2009-10 Temporary Service		Harrington Line and station open
	Disused railways
Workington Bridge Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Cockermouth & Workington Railway		Terminus