Berwick Station

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. It is down the line from and is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is BWK.

It is the most northerly railway station in England, being less than three miles from the border with Scotland. The station, with its long single island platform, lies immediately to the north of the Royal Border Bridge.

History

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 5 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

London North Eastern Railway supplies an hourly service that stops here. They go southbound to London Kings Cross calling at , and en route. In the other direction, there are services to Edinburgh with a few extensions to and one extension per day to each of , Stirling and Inverness. CrossCountry provide a two-hourly service in each direction during the day. Their services are mostly provided to via Edinburgh northbound, though there is one service to and from Dundee. In the southbound direction there are services to via and Birmingham New Street with a couple of extensions per day to and also a daily service to .