Place Pegswood Station code PEG DfT category F2 Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference NZ227871 Managed by Northern 2011/12 1,904 | |
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Address Morpeth NE61 6SJ, United Kingdom Similar Widdrington railway station, Acklington railway station, Chathill railway station, Riding Mill railway station, Morpeth railway station | ||
Pegswood railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the village of Pegswood, Northumberland. It is 287 miles 20 chains (462.3 km) down-line from London King's Cross and is situated between Morpeth to the south and Widdrington to the north. Its three-letter station code is PEG. It is a small station with few services calling there.
Contents
It is managed by Northern, which operates two southbound trains and one northbound train per day (excluding Sundays, when there is no service). Access to the platforms is via sloping tarmacadamed footpaths, and transfer between the northbound and southbound platforms is provided by the road overbridge at the north end of the station.
The station has featured in one of Bill Bryson's books – the author took the train to Pegswood before walking to Ashington.
History
The station was opened by the NER in 1903 (to serve the nearby village and colliery), more than 50 years after the line itself. The station was twice threatened with closure after nationalisation - firstly in 1958 and again in 1966 during the Beeching cuts, but was reprieved each time. Until 1968 it was served by through trains to Alnwick, whilst a handful of through services (on average 3-4 each way per day) to and from Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley continued to call right up until the late 1980s. However, the electrification of the line led to these being cut back to Berwick; they were further cut (and reduced in frequency to the present residual level) by British Rail in May 1991 due to a shortage of rolling stock. The local rail user group (SENRUG) has been running a campaign to improve service levels here and at neighbouring Widdrington since September 2016.
Southbound services
On Mondays to Saturdays a train starting at Chathill makes its way southbound through Northumberland providing a commuter service to Newcastle Central. It calls at Pegswood at 07.51. This service is typically provided by a diesel multiple unit (DMU), normally a Class 156 or occasionally a smaller Class 142. There is a balancing northbound service between Newcastle and Chathill (departing Newcastle at 05:55) but it is limited stop and does not call here, Widdrington or Acklington.
A second southbound train calls at 19.43 on weekdays or 19.09 on Saturdays – this service is the return working of the train which made its way northbound through the village earlier in the evening (see below). The weekday service continues beyond Newcastle through to Hexham.
Northbound services
On Mondays to Saturdays a train from Newcastle at 17.38 (17.00 on Saturdays) reaches Pegswood at 18.12 (17.25 on Saturdays), having called at Manors, Cramlington, and Morpeth. The later arrival time on Mondays to Fridays is because on these days, the train has to follow a CrossCountry express service from Penzance to Glasgow Central. From Pegswood, the local train continues to Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth, and Chathill. The train continues out of service to Belford, where it waits in a siding for other trains to pass, before returning to Chathill to form the southbound evening run through Northumberland. Like the morning run, this train is typically composed of a DMU: usually a Class 142, although a larger Class 156 unit is occasionally used instead.
No services call either way on Sundays.
Station facilities
A bench and shelter are located on the southbound platform. Tickets are purchased on board the train. Owing to the cant of the track through the station, the step up into the train from the southbound platform is substantial. There are no facilities at all on the northbound platform other than a station name sign and a timetable poster board. A telephone kiosk, letter box, shop, and bus stop are all within a couple of minutes walk of the station. Step-free access is available to both platforms.