Widdrington railway station
Railway station in Northumberland, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Widdrington is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 23 miles 20 chains (23.2 mi; 37.4 km) north of Newcastle, serves the villages of Stobswood and Widdrington Station in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Widdrington  | |||||
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Widdrington Station, Northumberland England | ||||
| Coordinates | 55°14′28″N 1°36′58″W | ||||
| Grid reference | NZ244941 | ||||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||||
| Manager | Northern Trains | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | WDD | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
Original company | Newcastle and Berwick Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | North Eastern Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | |||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1 July 1847 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  696 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  2,038 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 2,492 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 2,270 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 2,652 | ||||
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History
The station was opened by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway on 1 July 1847.[1]
An average of 3 or 4 stopping services each way per day ran between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley via Berwick-upon-Tweed until the late 1980s. Following the electrification of the East Coast Main Line, these services were curtailed at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Services were further reduced to their current level by British Rail in May 1991, due to a shortage of rolling stock.[2]
The local rail user group, SENRUG, has been campaigning to improve service levels at the station, and at neighbouring Pegswood, since September 2016.
Facilities
The station is unstaffed and has only basic amenities, consisting of a waiting shelter and timetable poster boards on both platforms, along with a public telephone on the southbound platform. Tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on the train. The old station buildings survive, but are now privately occupied. Step-free access is available to both platforms via the level crossing at the north end of the station.[3]
Services
Northern Trains
Northern Trains East Coast Main Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Newcastle – Morpeth – Chathill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of the December 2025 timetable change, the station is currently served by just three trains per day: two southbound to Newcastle via Morpeth (one in the early morning and one in the evening) and one northbound to Chathill (in the evening).
No services call at the station on Sundays.
Rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter
TransPennine Express
In September 2021, TransPennine Express announced that they were seeking approval to have most of the services on their new five return trains weekday semi-fast Newcastle to Edinburgh return trains call at Widdrington.[4] As the procedure required for the operator to be recognised as meeting the safety and operational requirements necessary for calling at Widdrington were ongoing at the time of the announcement, it is possible that the service will start calling at this station at some point after its planned commencement in December 2021.[4]
