Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

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.

Berwick-upon-Tweed
Main station building
General information
Location	Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland England
Coordinates	55°46′28″N 2°00′38″W
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
2018/19	0.571 million
Interchange	1,219
2019/20	0.602 million
Interchange	1,251
2020/21	0.142 million
Interchange	783
2021/22	0.590 million
Interchange	1,065
2022/23	0.568 million
Interchange	6,581
Location Berwick-upon-Tweed Location in Northumberland, England
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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

The station as seen in 1970

In 1847, the Great Hall of Berwick Castle had to be demolished to make way for the new station (the former West Wall of the castle still marks the boundary of the now-defunct station goods yard), which opened the following year. This replaced an initial structure erected by the North British Railway, whose line from the north first reached the town in 1846. 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. The station was rebuilt by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1927 and the buildings are Grade-II listed.

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 (which joined the main line at Tweedmouth, on the other side of the river) from 1851 until closure in 1964.

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 council-run car park nearby, and is staffed throughout the week during working hours. Several self-service ticket machines are available for use outside these times 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.

Services

Northbound platform

London North Eastern Railway operate an hourly service that stops here. They go southbound to London Kings Cross calling at Newcastle, Darlington and York en route. In the other direction, there are services to Edinburgh with a few extensions to Aberdeen and one extension per day to each of Glasgow Central, Stirling and Inverness. CrossCountry operates an hourly service in each direction during the day on their principle Edinburgh to Plymouth route. Northbound are services mainly to Edinburgh but an extension per day to Aberdeen and Glasgow Central. In the southbound direction there are services to Plymouth via Sheffield and Birmingham New Street with a couple of extensions per day to Penzance.

From December 2019, one TransPennine Express service in each direction began to call at Berwick-upon-Tweed. In September 2021, the operator announced that they would be introducing a five return trains per weekday semi-fast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh from December 2021, which call at Berwick. These also serve the recently reopened stations on the route at Reston and East Linton enroute to Edinburgh.

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 or Terminus		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

Bibliography

• Anderson, David (July 1996). "Steam Days at Berwick-upon-Tweed". Steam Days. 83: 403–13.
• Anon. (May–June 1966). "Berwick". Perspective East Yorkshire. 15: 359.
• Body, G. (1989). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: Northern operating area (1st ed.). Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0072-1. OCLC 59892452.

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M.
• Crome, Sarah (1999). Scotland's First War of Independence. Auch Books. ISBN 978-0953631605.
• 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.
• Stoton, Frederick (1909). "Berwick-on-Tweed (North British Railway)". Railway Magazine. 24: 473–8.
• Warn, C. (Spring 1980). "Berwick area railways". Northumbriana. 19: 21–3.

External links

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