Morecambe is a railway station on the
Morecambe Branch Line, which runs between and . The station, situated west of Lancaster, serves the town of
Morecambe in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
. It is owned by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
and managed by
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...
.
The current
truncated two-platform station was opened on 29 May 1994, replacing the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...
's earlier terminus, , which was situated some further west, closer to the town's seafront.
The old station building remains in use as a pub and restaurant, but its platforms have been demolished and the site is now occupied by a cinema and the Morecambe indoor market. That station was itself a replacement for the
North Western Railway
The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...
's original two-platform terminus at Northumberland Street, which opened in 1851 and closed in March 1907. It was located almost exactly on the same site as the current station and ticket office.
Facilities
Services are operated by a variety of
diesel multiple units, including
Class 150,
Class 156 and
Class 158 sets.
Terminating passenger services usually run into Platform 1. However, trains to/from Heysham must use the Platform 2 line in order to reverse and gain access to the single track Heysham branch. The lines to Platforms 1 and 2 connect away at a junction east of station. Heysham services (currently one return trip to Lancaster Mondays-Saturdays, and one return trip to
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
on Sundays) access the Heysham section by means of a ground frame at the junction which is released by Preston signalling centre (which has supervised the branch since the closure of Bare Lane signal box in December 2012) and operated by the train crew.
The ticket office is staffed from the early morning until mid-afternoon, six days per week (closed Sundays). Passengers can purchase tickets (or a permit to travel) from a ticket vending machine at the station at other times. A waiting shelter is provided, along with a P.A system and digital information screens. There is step-free access to the platform from the station entrance and ticket office.
Services
The station is served by
Northern local services, which operate as a regular Lancaster-Morecambe shuttle. There are also five daily longer-distance services from Morecambe to and via the
Leeds to Morecambe Line
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
.
Additionally, there is a limited service (one each way all week) to Heysham, connecting with the
ferry to the
Isle of Man
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in Europe ...
. Trains for Heysham must reverse at Morecambe.
The token direct trains to
Carnforth
Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 reco ...
that ran up until the summer 2019 timetable change (one early morning Lancaster - Morecambe - train, plus one weekday and three Sunday services to Leeds) have now been withdrawn. The
Parliamentary train
A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...
legal minimum service for the Bare Lane to Hest Bank North Junction chord is now provided by an early morning train from Lancaster, which runs via Carnforth (reverse) and the curve in question.
Future improvements
Northern's franchise agreement (started on 1 April 2016) includes provision for additional trains on the Leeds route - three additional weekday services were introduced from May 2018 (with trains timed to improve commuting and leisure opportunities at either end of the route) and one additional train each way on Sundays (the additional trains however start/terminate at Lancaster).
References
External links
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{{Railway stations served by Northern Trains
Railway stations in Lancaster
DfT Category F1 stations
Railway stations opened by Railtrack
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1994
Northern franchise railway stations
Buildings and structures in Morecambe