Acklington railway station
Acklington is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 28 miles 43 chains (28.5 mi; 45.9 km) north of Newcastle, serves the village of Acklington in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. It is the currently the least-used station in Northumberland, with an estimated 66 passenger journeys made during 2020/21.
Acklington  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Acklington, Northumberland England |
| Coordinates | 55°18′26″N 1°39′06″W |
| Grid reference | NU222015 |
| Owned by | Network Rail |
| Managed by | Northern Trains |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Tracks | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | ACK |
| Classification | DfT category F2 |
| History | |
| Original company | Newcastle and Berwick Railway |
| Pre-grouping | North Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | |
| Key dates | |
| 1 July 1847 | Opened |
| Passengers | |
| 2016/17 |  204 |
| 2017/18 |  372 |
| 2018/19 | 320 |
| 2019/20 | 246 |
| 2020/21 | 66 |
| Location | |
  Acklington Location in Northumberland, England | |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
History
The station was opened on 1 July 1847 by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway.[1] It later joined the North Eastern Railway, becoming part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the North Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Regional Railways until the Privatisation of British Railways. Intercity Sector trains passed through on the East Coast Main Line.
The station has a substantial main building on the northbound side, which is Grade-II listed and now used as a private residence.[2] It also had a goods yard and signal box. The station avoided the Beeching Axe in the late 1960s that claimed several others on the East Coast main line and until the late 1980s had through trains to Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley (though only 3-4 per day each way in total).[3] Electrification of the ECML and a rolling stock shortage led to the timetable being cut to the present residual level in 1991.
Facilities
The station is unstaffed (so tickets must be purchased in advance or on the train) and only has basic amenities - a sizeable stone shelter and payphone on the southbound platform and a cycle rack on the northbound side.[4] Step-free access is available to both platforms.
Services
Northern Trains Route 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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East Coast Main Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Most services extend to/from Carlisle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of the December 2021 timetable change, the station is served by one train per day (excluding Sunday) towards Chathill, and two trains towards Newcastle via Morpeth. All services are operated by Northern Trains.[5]
Rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter
References
- Milner, Chris, ed. (November 2016). "Britain's least used stations". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 162, no. 1, 388. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 30. ISSN 0033-8923.
- Historic England - Acklington Station Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Pastscape.org
- "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EAST COAST MAIN LINE IN NORTHUMBERLAND" Archived 13 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Young, Alan Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 8 February 2017
- Acklington station facilities Archived 17 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries
- "Train times: Alnmouth and Morpeth to Newcastle and Metrocentre" (PDF). Northern Trains. 12 December 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
Sources
- Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
External links
Media related to Acklington railway station at Wikimedia Commons- Train times and station information for Acklington railway station from National Rail
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widdrington towards Newcastle via Morpeth |
Northern Trains East Coast Main Line |
Alnmouth towards Chathill | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Chevington | North Eastern Railway York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway |
Warkworth | ||