Workington North railway station was a temporary

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

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 ...

, United Kingdom, constructed following floods which cut all road access to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

town centre from north of the River Derwent. The station was located north of Workington station on the

Cumbrian Coast Line The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle railway station, Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues (as the Furnes ...

. Until the new station opened, the closest station north of the River Derwent was

Flimby railway station Flimby railway station serves the coastal village of Flimby in Cumbria, England. It is on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. History Flimby railway station was opened ...

, which saw its passenger numbers increase enormously after the floods. Flimby had seen as many passengers on 24 November 2009 as would usually use the station in a fortnight. When the station first opened access to Workington by road from Northside involved a journey of because the bridges over the River Derwent for the

A596 The A596 is a primary route in Cumbria, in northern England, that runs between Thursby ( north-east of Wigton) and Workington. For its entirety the A596 parallels the A595, and meets the A595 at both ends. The A596 begins its course at a ro ...

and A597 roads were destroyed or badly damaged by the flood. The construction of a temporary road bridge over the Derwent made vehicular access easier but the railway station remained open until 8 October 2010, when the last train called.

Construction

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 ...

began construction of the new station during the night of 24/25 November 2009. The station featured two platforms linked by a footbridge, a waiting room, and a gravel car park. Network Rail agreed a two-year lease of land owned by

Allerdale Borough Council Allerdale is a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with borough status. Its council is based in Workington and the borough has a population of 93,492 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 96,422 at the 2011 Census. The Boro ...

off the

immediately north of St Helens Business Park, opposite

Dunmail Park Dunmail Park is a shopping centre located in Siddick, near Workington, in Cumbria, United Kingdom. It is located one-and-a-half miles north of the centre of Workington on the A596, and four-and-a-half miles south of the town of Maryport. It is ...

shopping centre. Workington bridge damage

The structure used a

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

base covered by wooden planks with an anti-slip surfacing. Construction work was undertaken "round the clock" in order to get the new station opened. The southbound platform was completed on 26 November, and the northbound platform and footbridge were completed by 28 November. The station opened on 30 November 2009, construction having taken six days. Prince Charles visited the station on 27 November 2009 to inspect the construction work being undertaken as part of a visit to the region. Once opened, the station was served by all existing trains and an additional hourly shuttle train (composed of a locomotive and at least three former inter-city mainline coaches) operated by Cumbrian-based

Direct Rail Services Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a rail freight company in Great Britain. As of 2022, it is one of seven publicly owned railway companies in the United Kingdom, the others being NI Railways (the passenger rail operator in Northern Ireland), LNE ...

(DRS) on behalf of Northern Rail—running northbound to

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland. The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield. Location ...

and southbound to Workington. This service started on 30 November 2009 and ran until 28 May 2010. It was initially funded by the Department for Transport at a cost of £216,000. All services between Workington, Workington North, Flimby and Maryport were free of charge for this period.

Services

All services from the station were operated by

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

. All trains on the line in both directions would call additionally at the new station. There was generally an hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Whitehaven station with some trains going onwards to . On Sundays three trains per day went to Carlisle and Whitehaven stations.

References

External links

; Videos from

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

on the opening of the station
''Workington's new temporary railway station opens''''Workington gets new rail station after Cumbria flood''
{{Closed stations Cumbria Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2009 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 2010 Disused railway stations in Cumbria Railway stations opened by Network Rail Workington