Chathill  | |||||
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Chathill,Northumberland England | ||||
| Coordinates | 55°32′12″N1°42′24″W / 55.5367939°N 1.7067301°W /55.5367939; -1.7067301 | ||||
| Grid reference | NU186270 | ||||
| Owned by | Network Rail | ||||
| Managed by | Northern Trains | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | CHT | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Newcastle and Berwick Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | North Eastern Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | |||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 29 March 1847 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  2,840 | ||||
| 2020/21 |  892 | ||||
| 2021/22 | 1,492 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1,348 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1,264 | ||||
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Chathill is a railway station on theEast Coast Main Line, which runs betweenLondon King's Cross andEdinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 46 miles 1 chain (46.0 mi; 74.0 km) north of Newcastle, serves the hamlet ofChathill, and surrounding coastal villages ofBeadnell andSeahouses inNorthumberland, England. It is owned byNetwork Rail and managed byNorthern Trains.
The station was opened by theNewcastle and Berwick Railway on 29 March 1847.[1] At the time of opening, four passenger trains ran each way every weekday between Newcastle andMorpeth, and between Chathill andTweedmouth. Road coaches filled in the gaps for the time being, and a four-hour transit from Newcastle to Berwick-upon-Tweed was achieved.[2]
Between 1 August 1898 and 27 October 1951, the station served as the south-western terminus of theNorth Sunderland Railway, which ran between Chathill and thefishing village of Seahouses. The railway operated independently, until takeover by theLondon and North Eastern Railway in 1939.[3]
An average of 3 or 4 stopping services each way per day ran betweenNewcastle andEdinburgh Waverley viaBerwick-upon-Tweed until the late 1980s. Following the electrification of the East Coast Main Line, these services were curtailed at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Services were further reduced to their current level byBritish Rail in May 1991, due to a shortage of rolling stock.[4]
Owing to the limited service (two trains per day towardsMorpeth and Newcastle), an easement permits passengers travelling north towards Berwick-upon-Tweed andScotland to double back viaAlnmouth for Alnwick.[5] The local rail user groupSENRUG has been campaigning since September 2016 to have local services on the corridor between Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley increased, to offer more choice for commuters and offer leisure opportunities for visitors to locations such asLindisfarne andSt Cuthbert's Way.
The station has retained its 1847Grade II listed building, designed by Newcastle architect Benjamin Green, and thesignal box dating from around 1873 (extended at the north end about 1911) on the northbound platform, though neither is in operational use. The station house is now privately owned and the signal box houses signalling equipment on the ground floor and staff accommodation on the first floor.[6][7]
The station is unstaffed and has no ticket facilities, so intending passengers must buy tickets on the train or prior to travel. There is a large stone waiting shelter on the southbound platform, but there are no other amenities other than information posters on each side. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[8]
Two (possibly modern reproduction types) B.R. North Eastern Region Tangerine Orange Totem signs are provided on the northbound platform 2, as well as a rectangular "CHATHILL" sign, also in Tangerine Orange, fitted below the station platform canopy.[9]
These may have been provided by the building owner rather than being original B.R. era signs.
Normal modern Northern Rail signage is also provided on both platforms as well.
Although the Northbound Platform 2 is open to passengers and maintained for safe use, only the single morning terminating train uses it to set down passengers, and no other northbound services have called here since B.R. withdrew the local locomotive–hauled semi–fast service in 1991.
Northern Trains East Coast Main Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Newcastle – Morpeth – Chathill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Most services extend to/from Carlisle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services at Chathill are operated byNorthern Trains usingClass 156 and158DMUs.
The station is currently served by two trains per day (one in the morning and one in the evening) toNewcastle viaMorpeth. Both services on weekdays and the morning service on Saturdays continue beyond Newcastle toCarlisle viaHexham (the afternoon service from Newcastle that terminates here also originates there).[10]
No services call at the station on Sundays.
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Trains Limited Service | Terminus | |||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Alnmouth | British Rail Eastern Region | Berwick-upon-Tweed | ||
| Terminus | London and North Eastern Railway | |||
| Fallodon | York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway | Newham | ||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)