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 serves the village of Acklington in Northumberland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Acklington
LocationAcklington, Northumberland
England
Coordinates55°18′26″N 1°39′06″W
Grid referenceNU222015
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeACK
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyYork, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1 July 1847Opened
Passengers
2015/16 296
2016/17 204
2017/18 372
2018/19 320
2019/20 246
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

In the current (December 2018) timetable the only trains calling at Acklington are one northbound and two southbound local services operated on Mondays to Saturdays only by Northern, which also manages the station. Acklington is the least used station in Northumberland.

History

Opened in 1847 by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway,[1] then joining the North Eastern Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the 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
Route 1:
East Coast Main Line
 Chathill
 Alnmouth for Alnwick
 Acklington
 Widdrington
 Pegswood
 Morpeth
 Cramlington
 Manors
Newcastle
Most services extend to/from
Carlisle.

The three departures each weekday run at 18:33 northbound to Alnmouth and Chathill and southbound at 07:39 and 19:35 to Newcastle. The Saturdays timetable has the same frequency but southbound trains depart at 07:39 and 19:50 and the northbound service at 18:40.[5] Both southbound trains extend beyond Newcastle onto the Tyne Valley Line (since the December 2017 timetable change), the morning one to Prudhoe and the evening to Carlisle.

References
  1. 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.
  2. Historic England - Acklington Station Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Pastscape.org
  3. "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
  4. Acklington station facilities Archived 17 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine National Rail Enquiries
  5. Table 48 National Rail timetable, December 2018

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.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Widdrington   Northern Trains
East Coast Main Line		   Alnmouth for Alnwick
  Historical railways  
Chevington   North Eastern Railway
York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway		   Warkworth
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