Morecambe railway station

Morecambe
View from terminus end of Morecambe platforms, 2009
Location
Place	Morecambe
Local authority	Lancaster
Coordinates	54°04′12″N 2°52′12″W / 54.070°N 2.870°WCoordinates: 54°04′12″N 2°52′12″W / 54.070°N 2.870°W
Grid reference	SD432641
Operations
Station code	MCM
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.221 million
2011/12	0.220 million
2012/13	0.209 million
2013/14	0.217 million
2014/15	0.245 million
History
29 May 1994	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Morecambe from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Morecambe, Lancaster & Heysham Port
Legend
West Coast Main Line north Bare Lane Morecambe Heysham Port Lancaster West Coast Main Line south

Morecambe railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Morecambe in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Morecambe Branch Line from Lancaster to Heysham. The current truncated two-platform station was opened in 1994 to replace the Midland Railway's earlier Morecambe Promenade terminus situated some 400 m further west, closer to the town's sea front. 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. Ironically that station was the replacement for the "Little" North Western Railway's original two-platform terminus at Northumberland Street (opened in 1851 and closed in March 1907), which was located almost exactly on the same site as the current station & ticket office.

Recently a modern ticket office was opened and passenger numbers have increased by 8% over the last five years. Services are operated by variety of diesel multiple units, including Class 144, Class 150, Class 153 and Class 156 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 1.6 miles away at a junction east of Bare Lane station. Heysham services (currently one return trip per day Mon-Sat and two on summer 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 diagram below shows the current trackwork at Morecambe Station:

• 

  A diagram of the current track layout, which was heavily rationalised since the closure of Promenade station in 1994

Facilities

The ticket office is staffed from the early morning until mid-afternoon, six days per week (closed Sundays). Passengers must purchase their tickets on the train or in advance at other times. A waiting shelter is provided, along with a P.A system and digital information screens.^[1] There is step-free access to the platform from the station entrance and ticket office.^[2]

Services

The station in 1984

The station is served by Northern local services, which operate as a regular Lancaster-Morecambe shuttle.^[3] There are also four daily longer-distance services from Morecambe to Skipton and Leeds via the Leeds to Morecambe Line (two on Sundays, with a further pair in the summer). Additionally, there is a limited service to Heysham, connecting with the ferry to the Isle of Man. Trains for Heysham must reverse at Morecambe.

2007

Additionally the last train each weekday evening is a First TransPennine Express service from Windermere, which diverts from its route to Barrow-in-Furness. This service calls at Lancaster, Bare Lane and Morecambe, before reversing, calling at Bare Lane again, then rejoining the West Coast Main Line and continuing via Carnforth. This runs purely to provide a token parliamentary service over the Bare Lane to Hest Bank curve, which has not otherwise been used for passenger trains on a regular basis since trains from Leeds were diverted via Lancaster in 1987.

2008 changes

From December 2008, the daily TransPennine Express service operates in the early morning (departing at 05.58) rather than late evening and runs from Barrow to Windermere (although still running northbound over the Bare Lane to Hest Bank curve). The mid-afternoon 16.19 service to Leeds also now runs direct to Carnforth (except on Saturdays), whilst the Heysham service has been reduced from two trains each way to one (which runs through from/to Leeds).^[4] A Sunday service of two trains each way operates to and from Heysham in the summer months (May - September only in the current timetable), whilst the 14.46 SuO service to Leeds runs directly to Carnforth rather than via Lancaster.

2011 changes

The daily Heysham branch shuttle was suspended from 28 March until 17 July (no driver available due to Arnside viaduct closure - bus replacement in operation), whilst the two summer Sunday extras to/from Leeds ran through until the December timetable change. These have now (summer 2013) become a permanent feature of the timetable.

Future Improvements

The new Northern franchise agreement (starting on 1 April 2016) includes provision for additional trains on the Leeds route - three additional weekday services will operate each way from December 2017 (with trains timed to improve commuting & leisure opportunities at either end of the route) and one additional train each way on Sundays.^[5] Pacer DMUs will also disappear from the route by 2019.

References

1. Morecambe station Visit North West; Retrieved 1 December 2016
2. Morecambe station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 1 December 2016
3. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 98
4. Northern Rail Leeds to Morecambe Line Timetable 13 December 2015 to 14 May 2016 Northern Rail website. Accessed 3 February 2016
5. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT

External links

• Train times and station information for Morecambe railway station from National Rail
• RAILSCOT - Morecambe railway station