Alnmouth Railway Station

Alnmouth railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the village of Alnmouth and neighbouring settlements including Alnwick, in Northumberland. It is down the line from and is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is ALM.

History

The station was opened on 1 July 1847 as Bilton by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway and from 1854 run by the North Eastern Railway. On 1 October 1850 it became the junction for the Alnwick branch line and was significantly upgraded by the NER in 1887-88. On 2 May 1892 the station's name was changed to Alnmouth.

It became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the North Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The Alnwick branch service was withdrawn in January 1968, with freight traffic ending in October the same year. The station had an additional platform face on the 'down' (northbound) side for use by branch trains, but this lost its track in the early 1970s after the branch closed (along with the buildings on that side) and was removed altogether prior to the station being refurbished in 2004. The main building on the southbound platform is not original - it was erected in 1987 to replace the original structures constructed when the Alnwick branch opened in 1850.

When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by the Intercity Sector until the Privatisation of British Railways.

Facilities

The station is staffed, with the ticket office on platform 1 manned each day (06:40-18:15 Mon-Sat, 10:20-21:30 Sundays). A self-service ticket machine is also provided (this can be used to collect pre-paid tickets as well as for use when the booking office is closed). There is a waiting shelter and help point on platform 2 as well as a waiting room, vending machine and toilets on platform 1. Level access is available to both platforms via lifts in the footbridge. Train running information is offered via automated announcements, digital displays and timetable posters.

Services

Alnmouth station is managed by Northern, even though the majority of its services are provided by other operators.

The majority of services are provided by CrossCountry trains running between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Virgin Trains East Coast services calling here were reduced in the May 2011 timetable change so that they are less frequent. However, these services are every two hours during the day for both Newcastle/London and Edinburgh. With CrossCountry also calling every second hour, the net frequency provided is approximately hourly each way.

Occasional Northern local services operating to and from Chathill also call here - currently these consist of one morning and one evening train in each direction (except Sundays). Of these, the northbound evening service from Newcastle starts from the whilst the return goes through to (except on Saturdays).

Alnmouth will also become the eastern terminus of the Aln Valley (Heritage) Railway which is being reconstructed along the Alnwick branch line.