Wetheral is a railway station on the Tyne Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated east of Carlisle, serves the villages of Great Corby and

Wetheral Wetheral is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in Cumbria, England. At the 2001 census, the population of the Wetheral Ward was 4,039, The civil parish of Wetheral is slightly larger, with a population of 5,203. being counted as 4,541 ...

, City of Carlisle in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, England. 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 ...

History

The

Newcastle and Carlisle Railway The Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (N&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1825 that built a line from Newcastle upon Tyne on Britain's east coast, to Carlisle, on the west coast. The railway began operating mineral trains in 1834 between ...

was formed in 1829, and was opened in stages. The station was opened in July 1836, following the opening of the

between Greenhead and Carlisle London Road.

Corby Bridge Corby Bridge (also known as Wetheral Viaduct to distinguish it from the nearby Corby Viaduct) is a railway viaduct adjacent to and immediately east of Wetheral railway station at Wetheral, near Carlisle, in north-western England, begun in 183 ...

(also known as Wetheral Viaduct) is situated to the east of the station, over which trains pass when travelling towards Newcastle. Construction of the -long bridge began in 1830, and was completed in 1834. It also carries a cast iron footbridge that links the station with the nearby village of Great Corby, which was added in 1851. The station was originally staffed, and the old stationmaster's house still stands as a private residence. Following the Beeching Axe, the station was closed in January 1967, along with the neighbouring station at Heads Nook. Wetheral was formally re-opened by British Rail on 5 October 1981. The reopening followed the construction of new housing estate and lobbying by the local parish council. Although the original platforms were still in situ, the station building had to be made safe and refurbished for passengers. The works were funded by

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body respon ...

which also sponsored a scheme by

Manpower Services Commission The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and tr ...

to complete the work in time for reopening.

Facilities

The station has two platforms, both of which have a ticket machine (which accepts card or

contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC, e.g. Samsung ...

only), seating, waiting shelter, next train audio and visual displays and an emergency help point. There is step-free access to both platforms, with both platforms also being linked by a pre-grouping metal footbridge, similar to those at Brampton (Cumbria) and

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...

. There is a small car park at the station. Wetheral is part of the Northern Trains

penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares n ...

network, meaning that a valid ticket or promise to pay notice is required prior to boarding the train.

Services

As of the December 2021 timetable change, there is an hourly service between and Carlisle via , with additional trains at peak times. On Sunday, there are nine trains heading towards Carlisle, and eight trains heading towards Newcastle via Hexham. Most trains extend to or via . All services are operated by

. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''

References

External links

* {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in Cumbria DfT Category F2 stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1836 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1981 Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Northern franchise railway stations Beeching closures in England Wetheral