Alnmouth railway station

Alnmouth (also known as Alnmouth for Alnwick) is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 34 miles 69 chains (34.9 miles; 56.1 kilometres) north of Newcastle, serves the coastal and rural villages of Alnmouth and Lesbury and the market town of Alnwick in Northumberland, England.

It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

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 19 August 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 The Alnwick branch service was withdrawn in January 1968, with freight traffic ending in October the same year.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 Rail.

Facilities

The station is staffed, with the ticket office on platform 1 open every day of the week (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

The services, as of the December 2025 timetable change, are as follows: London North Eastern Railway

1 tp2h to London King's Cross, via Newcastle, Darlington, York, Doncaster, Newark Northgate and Peterborough 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley. CrossCountry

1 tp2h to Plymouth, via Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham New Street and Bristol Temple Meads; 1 tpd extends to Penzance (except on Sundays). 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley; 1 tpd extend to Glasgow Central via Motherwell. TransPennine Express

8 tpd to Edinburgh Waverley, calling at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston, Dunbar and East Linton (7 tpd on Sundays) 8 tpd to Newcastle, calling at Morpeth (7 tpd on Sundays). Northern Trains

1 early morning and 1 evening service to Chathill (except Sundays) 1 early morning and 1 evening service to Newcastle (except Sundays) London North Eastern Railway and CrossCountry operate additional services during the peak hours. The Aln Valley heritage railway has long-term ambitions of extending its running line to Alnmouth station from its current terminus at Greenrigg Halt.

Sources

Body, G. (1989). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: Northern operating area (1st ed.). Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0072-1. OCLC 59892452. Butt, R. V. J. (October 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. OL 11956311M. 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.