Lancaster railway station

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Lancaster
Location
Place	Lancashire
Local authority	City of Lancaster
Operations
Station code	LAN
Managed by	Virgin Trains
Platforms in use	5
Annual entry/exit 04/05	1.270 million **
History
Key dates	Opened 1846 Remodeled 1902
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Lancaster. Disclaimer (PDF)

This article is about the railway station in England. For Lancaster station in Pennsylvania, see Lancaster (Amtrak station). For Lancaster station in California, see Metrolink Antelope Valley Line.

Lancaster railway station (formerly known as Lancaster Castle railway station) is a railway station that serves the city of Lancaster in Lancashire. It is one of the principal stations on the West Coast Main Line.

Lancaster railway station has five platforms currently in use.

Platform 1 - north facing bay platform
Platform 2 - north facing bay platform
Platform 3 - through platform for trains to the north
Platform 4 - through platform for trains to the south
Platform 5 - bidirectional through platform

In addition, there are two central through lines for non-stop passenger trains and freight traffic. There was previously a Platform 6, and although the platform face remains, the track has been removed.

Lancaster is served by several train operators.

Virgin Trains operate express trains from London Euston to Carlisle, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley using new Pendolino trains , and from Scotland to the South-West and the South Coast using new Virgin Voyagers. These services normally use platforms 3 and 4.
First TransPennine Express operate regional express services using Class 175 units, from Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness via the Furness Line, and to Windermere via the Windermere Branch Line. These services also use platforms 3 and 4.
Northern Rail operate local services, along the Furness Line to Barrow-in-Furness, the Morecambe Branch Line to Morecambe and Heysham and the Airedale Line to Skipton. These services are operated using diesel multiple units of Classes 142, 150, 153 and 156, and normally use platforms 1, 2 and 5.

[edit] History

Formerly known as Lancaster Castle Station in order to distinguish it from Lancaster Green Ayre Station on the Wennington-Morecambe line, Lancaster station was officially opened on the 21st September 1846. The first public service ran into the station on the 17th December the same year. The station was built as the Southern terminus of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway after the initial route for the line - following the Lancaster Canal and crossing the River Lune from Ladies Walk to Skerton - were changed in favour of a cheaper route west of the city.

The station was remodelled in 1902 when additional lines and platforms were added and further station buildings constructed. The new buildings were styled mock-Elizabethan with the intention of mirroring the battlements of the near by Lancaster Castle. Platforms 5 and 6 were electrified in 1908 to serve the now-closed Midland Railway route to Morecambe and Heysham. This line closed in January 1966 and the overhead line equipment was removed.

The track layout in the station area was rationalised in 1973 when control of the signalling was transferred to the new Preston Power Signalbox. This included the removal of the track from Platform 6, although this platform had seen no regular use for some time prior to this. The West Coast Main Line through Lancaster was electrified in 1974, and regular electric passenger services recommenced at the station on 7th May 1974.

[edit] Services

West Coast Main Line

Principal stations
(from south to north)

London Euston
Watford Junction
Milton Keynes Central
Rugby (for Birmingham Loop)
Nuneaton
Tamworth
Lichfield Trent Valley
Stafford
Crewe then

Manchester Piccadilly or

Liverpool Lime Street

Warrington Bank Quay
Wigan North Western
Preston
Lancaster
Oxenholme Lake District
Penrith North Lakes
Carlisle
Lockerbie
Carstairs Junction then
Motherwell and
Glasgow Central or
Haymarketand
Edinburgh Waverley (for East Coast Main Line)

Preceding station		Following station
Preston	First TransPennine Express TransPennine North West	Carnforth or Oxenholme Lake District
Terminus	Northern Rail Furness Line	Carnforth
Terminus	Northern Rail Airedale Line	Carnforth
Terminus	Northern Rail Morecambe Branch Line	Bare Lane
Preston	Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line	Oxenholme Lake District
Disused Railways
Terminus	North Western Railway	Lancaster Green Ayre
Terminus	Glasson Dock Branch Line	Conder Green
Terminus	Furness Line	Hest Bank
Galgate	West Coast Main Line	Hest Bank