Hexham railway station

Hexham railway station serves the town of Hexham in Northumberland, England. It is located on the Tyne Valley Line which runs from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle.

For the railway station in New South Wales, Australia, see Hexham railway station, New South Wales.

Hexham
Location
Place	Hexham
Local authority	Northumberland
Coordinates	54.9736°N 2.0949°W / 54.9736; -2.0949
Grid reference	NY940643
Operations
Station code	HEX
Managed by	Northern
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.381 million
2015/16	0.332 million
2016/17	0.344 million
2017/18	0.346 million
2018/19	0.343 million
– Interchange	4,228
History
Original company	Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
9 March 1835 (1835-03-09)	Station 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 Hexham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is owned by Network Rail and is managed by Northern, who provide all passenger train services.

History

A 1911 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (upper left) railways in the vicinity of Hexham

Dating from around 1835, Hexham station is one of the oldest purpose-built railway stations in the world[1] and is a grade II listed building.[2] The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway was formed in 1829, and was opened in stages.[3] The first section of that line to open for passenger trains was between Blaydon and Hexham, which was formally opened on 3 March 1835,[4] with normal services beginning either the next day,[4] or on 9 March 1835.[5]

The line was extended from Hexham to Haydon Bridge on 28 June 1836.[6] After the N&CR had been absorbed by the North Eastern Railway, Hexham became a junction station with the opening of the first section of the Border Counties Railway, between Hexham and Chollerford on 5 April 1858.[7] The first section of a second branch, the Hexham and Allendale Railway (H&AR) was opened (for goods) in August 1867 - the H&AR, initially promoted to serve lead mines, opened for passengers on 1 March 1869.[8]

On the main line, the next station to the west of Hexham was Fourstones,[9] which closed in 1967.[10]

The station has diminished in size and importance since the closure of the Allendale branch (to passengers on 22 September 1930, completely in 1950) and the Border Counties Railway (to passengers October 1956, all traffic 1958),[11] both of which met the Tyne Valley line west of Hexham station. The bay platform used by both branch lines was located on the southern side and faced west; it was taken out of use in the early 1970s and the track lifted (the land now forms part of the station car park). The track layout has also been rationalised, with just a running loop and three sidings retained at the east end of the station along with the distinctive elevated signal box - this was built in 1896, is also grade-II listed[12] and one of only two such structures left on the line (the other being at Wylam).

In 2013 and 2014 a major Network Rail managed redevelopment scheme was undertaken. The goods yard on the south east side became a retail park. The Victorian railway stables were relocated to Beamish Museum. Both of the Victorian goods shed buildings are to be re-used. On the north side a new entrance and car park were created allowing step-free access to that platform.[13]

The floral displays have won several awards from the Britain in Bloom scheme.[14] Since the mid 2000s the station has accommodated office space for the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership who opened a kiosk in 2011.[15]

Facilities

The station is staffed on a part-time basis, with the ticket office on platform 2 open on weekdays from 07:15–17:30 and 08:15–14:15 on Saturdays. There are now four ticket machines at the station - two on each platform. There are waiting rooms on both platforms along with toilets, vending machines, a retail outlet, taxi office and refreshment facilities (a fast food restaurant) on platform 2. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[16] There is a bus stop and a taxi rank outside the station.

The station has two waiting rooms. The waiting room on platform 2 has a fireplace made of black marble, which includes many fossilised orthoceras cephalopods, dated to approximately 400 million years old.

Services

Northern Trains Route 4: Tyne Valley Line
West Coast Main Line to Edinburgh & Glasgow Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Carlisle Cumbrian Coast Line to Barrow-in-Furness & West Coast Main Line to London Euston Settle to Carlisle Line Wetheral Brampton Haltwhistle Bardon Mill Haydon Bridge Hexham Corbridge Riding Mill Stocksfield Prudhoe Wylam Blaydon MetroCentre Dunston East Coast Main Line to London King's Cross Newcastle East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh Durham Coast Line to Middlesbrough

The station has a 2tph Northern service on weekdays westwards to Carlisle, though the through trains beyond towards Glasgow Central have now ceased. There are three trains per hour to Newcastle - two of which run through from Carlisle and serve only Prudhoe and MetroCentre, whilst the other starts at Hexham and calls at the intermediate stations.[17] Many of the latter continue on via the Durham Coast Line to Sunderland and Middlesbrough, whilst others run to Morpeth.

On Sundays an hourly service operates between Carlisle and Newcastle (with many services continuing to Middlesbrough or beyond).

In January 2016, a landslip between Corbridge and Riding Mill (caused by persistent heavy rain and a broken drainage pipe) led to the temporary suspension of services between Hexham and Prudhoe whilst repairs to the track and adjacent cutting walls were carried out. Trains to/from Carlisle terminated and reversed at Hexham, whilst a replacement bus service ran to Prudhoe, until the work was completed.[18] The line reopened to traffic on 8 February 2016, following the removal of over 35,000 tonnes of earth from the site.[19]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Corbridge		Northern Tyne Valley line		Haydon Bridge
	Historical railways
Corbridge Line and station open		North Eastern Railway Newcastle and Carlisle Railway		Fourstones Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		London and North Eastern Railway Hexham and Allendale Railway		Elrington Halt
Wall		London and North Eastern Railway Border Counties Railway		Terminus

References

1. Ransom, P.J.G. (1990). The Victorian Railway and How it Evolved. London: Heinemann. p. 229. ISBN 0-434-98083-8. Retrieved 17 February 2020 – via Google Books. It must be one of the oldest staion buildings in the world still in ue for its original purpose.
2. Historic England. "Hexham Railway station  (Grade II) (1370815)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
3. James, Leslie (1983). A Chronology of the Construction of Britain's Railways 1778–1855. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 22. ISBN 0-7110-1277-6. BE/1183.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
4. Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 35. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
5. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens. p. 119. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
6. Allen 1974, p. 36
7. Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Patrick Stephens. p. 118. ISBN 1-85260-049-7. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
8. Allen 1974, pp. 142–3
9. Conolly, W. Philip (1998) [1967]. "B3". British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 27. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
10. Butt 1995, p. 99
11. Body, Geoffrey (1988). Railways of the Eastern Region. Volume 2: Northern operating area. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. p. 134. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
12. Historic England. "Overtrack Signal Box to the East of Hexham Railway station  (Grade II) (1042523)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
13. "Work starts on £8m Hexham Goods Yard retail development". Network Rail Media Centre (Press release). Network Rail. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
14. Willoughby, James (15 September 2015). "Northumbria in Bloom results announced". Northumberland Gazette. Alnwick: Johnston Press. ISSN 1354-9189. Retrieved 27 September 2016. Bus/Metro/Railway Stations: [...] Hexham Railway Station, gold
15. "Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership". Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership. Retrieved 17 February 2020. Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, Hexham Railway Station, Hexham, Northumberland NE46 1EU
16. "Stations & destinations - Hexham (HEX)". National Rail Enquries. National Rail. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
17. Table 48 National Rail timetable, December 2019
18. Sharma, Sonia (15 January 2016). "Corbridge landslip photos show scale of task to re-open Newcastle to Carlisle train line". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
19. "Trains to resume on Monday after West Line landslip repairs". Network Rail Media Centre (Press release). Network Rail. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.

External links

• Train times and station information for Hexham railway station from National Rail
• Bus times for Hexham railway station from Traveline North East