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 Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Cumbria, England. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, the population of the Wetheral Wards of the United Kingdom, Ward was ...

City of Carlisle The City of Carlisle ( , ) was a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city. It was named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covered a far larger area which included the towns of Brampton and Longtown, ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, 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 railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

History

The

Newcastle and Carlisle Railway The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (N&CR) (formally, the ''Newcastle upon Tyne and Carlisle Railway'') 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 co ...

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 1830 ...

(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 Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, the station was closed in January 1967, along with the neighbouring station at Heads Nook. Wetheral was formally re-opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

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 was 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 was an elected local government body re ...

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 in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government on 1 January 1974 under the terms of the Employment and Training ...

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) for making sec ...

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 Carlisle and west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Haltwhistle is the closest community to Hadrian's Wall and to Northum ...

. 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 ...

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

Services

As of the December 2023 timetable change, there is an hourly service between and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

via , with additional trains at peak times. On Sunday, there are nine trains heading towards Carlisle, and eight trains heading towards Newcastle via Hexham. Certain 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 (United Kingdom) 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 Railway stations served by Northern Beeching closures in England Wetheral