Lancaster railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lancaster
Location
Place	Lancashire
Local authority	City of Lancaster
Operations
Station code	LAN
Managed by	Virgin Trains
Platforms in use	5
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2004/05 *	1.270 million
2005/06 *	1.317 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1846 Remodelled 1902
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 passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Lancaster from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Lancaster railway station (formerly known as Lancaster Castle railway station) is a railway station that serves the city of Lancaster in Lancashire. It is one of the principal stations on the West Coast Main Line.

Lancaster railway station has five platforms currently in use.

• Platform 1 - North Facing bay platform for Trains to Morecambe and Heysham

• Platform 2 - north facing bay platform for services to Carnforth, then Airedale Line to Bradford or the Furness Line to Barrow in Furness

• Platform 3 - through platform for trains to the north

• Platform 4 - through platform for trains to the south

• Platform 5 - bidirectional through platform

In addition, there are two central through lines for non-stop passenger trains and freight traffic. There was previously a Platform 6, and although the platform face remains, the track has been removed.

Lancaster is served by several train operators.

• Virgin Trains operate express trains from London Euston to Carlisle, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley using new Pendolino trains, and from Scotland to Birmingham New Street using Virgin Voyagers. These services normally use platforms 3 and 4.
• TransPennine Express operate regional express services using Class 185 units, from Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness via the Furness Line, and to Windermere via the Windermere Branch Line and since December 2007 to Cumbria and Scotland via the West Coast Main Line. These services also use platforms 3 and 4.
• Northern Rail operate local services, along the Furness Line to Barrow-in-Furness, the Morecambe Branch Line to Morecambe and Heysham and the Airedale Line to Skipton and Leeds. These services are operated using diesel multiple units of Classes 142, 150, 153 and 156, and normally use platforms 1, 2 and 5.

[edit] History

Formerly known as Lancaster Castle Station in order to distinguish it from Lancaster Green Ayre Station on the Wennington-Morecambe line, Lancaster station was officially opened on the 21st September 1846. The first public service ran into the station on the 17th December the same year. The station was built as the Southern terminus of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway after the initial route for the line - following the Lancaster Canal and crossing the River Lune from Ladies Walk to Skerton - were changed in favour of a cheaper route west of the city.

The station was remodelled in 1902 when additional lines and platforms were added and further station buildings constructed. The new buildings were styled mock-Elizabethan with the intention of mirroring the battlements of the near by Lancaster Castle. Platforms 5 and 6 were electrified in 1908 to serve the now-closed Midland Railway route to Morecambe and Heysham. This line closed in January 1966 and the overhead line equipment was removed.

The track layout in the station area was rationalised in 1973 when control of the signalling was transferred to the new Preston Power Signal Box. This included the removal of the track from Platform 6, although this platform had seen no regular use for some time prior to this. The West Coast Main Line through Lancaster was electrified in 1974, and regular electric passenger services recommenced at the station on 7th May 1974.

[edit] Services

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Lancaster railway station

• Train times and station information for Lancaster railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 54°02′55.5″N, 02°48′27″W