Carlisle railway station

This article is about the English railway station. For the Australian station, see Carlisle railway station, Perth.

Carlisle
Carlisle Citadel
Location
Place	Carlisle
Local authority	City of Carlisle
Coordinates	54.891°N 2.934°W / 54.891; -2.934
Grid reference	NY401555
Operations
Station code	CAR
Managed by	Virgin Trains
Number of platforms	8
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	1.170 million
2005/06 *	1.297 million
2006/07 *	1.366 million
2007/08 *	1.470 million
2008/09 *	1.710 million
2009/10 *	1.873 million
History
Original company	Caledonian Railway/Lancaster and Carlisle Railway joint
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway/London and North Western Railway joint
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1 September 1847	Opened as Carlisle Citadel
1875	Extended
(after 1948)	Renamed Carlisle
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Carlisle from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station which serves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying 102 miles (164 km) south of Glasgow Central, and 299 miles (481 km) north of London Euston. It is also the northern terminus of the celebrated Settle and Carlisle Line - notionally (and historically) a continuation of the Midland Main Line from Leeds, Sheffield and ultimately London St Pancras. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The station was built in 1847, then one of a number of stations in the city, and was expanded and extended in 1875-1876, with the arrival of the Midland Railway. Most of the routes from the station remain in use, the only significant casualties being the former North British Railway lines to Silloth (closed on 7 September 1964) and Edinburgh via Galashiels (the Waverley Line, closed on 6 January 1969).

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Carlisle (shown here as CITADEL STATION)

Rail network in the Carlisle area

Caledonian Railway Main Line / West Coast Mainline Northbound Border Union Railway / Waverley Line to Edinburgh Gretna Junction Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway / English/Scottish Border / Glasgow South Western Line to Gretna Green Gretna Longtown Longtown MOD Depot Floriston Lyneside Kingmoor Marshalling Yard Rockcliffe Harker Brunthill Stainton Etterby Junction Canal Junction Carlisle and Port Carlisle Railway and Dock Company Carlisle Kingmoor TMD Willowholme / Port Carlisle Branch Junctions Caldew Junction Carlisle Citadel Rome Street Junction / Carlisle South Junction London Road Junction Currock Junction / Upperby Junction Carlisle London Road Upperby TMD Maryport and Carlisle Railway / Upperby Bridge Junction / Cumbrian Coast Line to Barrow-in-Furness Petteril Bridge Junction Newcastle and Carlisle Railway to Newcastle Settle and Carlisle Line to Settle Brisco Wreay Lancaster and Carlisle Railway / West Coast Mainline Southbound

Services

Station frontage

Long-distance services are operated by Virgin Trains, with the main routes being London-Glasgow and Scotland-Birmingham New Street. Northern Rail operate local stopping services to Newcastle upon Tyne via the Tyne Valley Line, to Barrow-in-Furness via the Cumbrian Coast Line, and to Leeds via the scenic Settle-Carlisle Line. First ScotRail also operate services to Glasgow via Dumfries, as well as a cross-country route between Stranraer and Newcastle.

• Platform 1: Relief West Coast Main Line platform
• Platform 2: Cumbrian Coast Line bay
• Platform 3: West Coast Main Line north-bound platform
• Platform 4: West Coast Main Line south-bound platform
• Platform 5: Tyne Valley Line bay
• Platform 6: Carlisle to Leeds Line bay
• Platforms 7 & 8: Scottish services to various destinations between Carlisle and Glasgow.

There are stabling roads between Platforms 3 and 4 in the train shed, and a loop around Platform 1. There are several electrified sidings to the west of Platform 1.

2008

Service frequencies on each route varies - Mondays to Saturdays there are trains every one or two hours to London and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow & Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operate seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there is a basic hourly service to both Newcastle & Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (six trains per day M-F, seven SO) and to Barrow-in-Furness (seven).

On Sundays the service is hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds & Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There are two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

The Up 'Caledonian' leaving Carlisle in 1960

2009

Service frequencies on the West Coast Main Line have been improved somewhat following the introduction of the new VHF timetable by Virgin Trains. Mondays to Saturdays there are now trains every hour to London for much of the day (although one service from Euston no longer stops here, running non-stop between Preston & Glasgow) and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow & Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operate seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there is a basic hourly service to both Newcastle & Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (seven per day Mon-Sat since the May 2011 timetable alterations) and to Barrow-in-Furness (eight).

On Sundays the service is hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds & Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There are two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

The 'Royal Scot' entering Carlisle in 1960

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Haltwhistle		First ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line		Gretna Green
Watford Junction		First ScotRail Lowland Caledonian Sleeper		Carstairs
Wetheral		Northern Rail Tyne Valley Line		Terminus
Armathwaite		Northern Rail Settle-Carlisle Line		Terminus
Terminus		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line		Dalston
Penrith		Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line		Lockerbie
Penrith		TransPennine Express (TransPennine North West)		Lockerbie
	Historical railways
Terminus		Caledonian Railway CR Main Line		Rockcliffe
Terminus		North British Railway Border Union Railway		Harker
Terminus		North British Railway Carlisle and Port Carlisle Railway and Dock Company		Kirkandrews
Cummersdale		Maryport and Carlisle Railway		Terminus
Brisco		London and North Western Railway Lancaster and Carlisle Railway		Terminus
Scotby		Midland Railway Settle and Carlisle Line		Terminus
Scotby		North Eastern Railway Newcastle and Carlisle Railway		Terminus

References

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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• 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 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 
• Jowett, Alan (1993). Jowett's Atlas of Railway Centres: of Great Britain showing their development from the earliest times up to and including the 1990s - Volume 1 (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0420-4. OCLC 30919645. 

• Details from listed building database (386689) . Images of England. English Heritage.

External links

• Buses from the station
• Buses to the station
• The Undercroft @ Carlisle Railway Station