Place Sellafield Station code SEL DfT category F1 Opened 1850 | Grid reference NY020034 Managed by Northern 2011/12 0.221 million Number of platforms 2 | |
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Address Seascale CA20 1PF, United Kingdom Similar Braystones railway station, Seascale railway station, St Bees railway station, Drigg railway station, Corkickle railway station | ||
Sellafield railway station serves the nuclear facility of Sellafield in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line, 11 1⁄2 miles (18.5 km) south of Whitehaven. Some through trains to the Furness Line towards Lancaster stop here. It is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services.
Contents
The station (which dates from 1850) is a busy freight location, as much of the nuclear waste for Sellafield's Thorp nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is carried by train here from the docks in Barrow-in-Furness or from rail-connected nuclear power stations elsewhere in the UK. The facility also generates significant commuter traffic for the railway, with workers travelling by train to their jobs here from the nearby towns & villages.
The station marks the end of the single line section from Whitehaven, which is operated using the electric key token system. From here the line southwards towards Ravenglass and Barrow is double track, except for the final section between Park South Junction (south of Askam) and Barrow, also single since the late 1980s. The station track configuration is unusual in that the southbound ('up' line) is bi-directional through the station and has platform faces on both sides (though only the western one is actually used, the other side being fenced off) - this allows trains from the south to terminate here & turn back without having to enter the single line section to St Bees. The signal box controlling the layout is located at the north end of the station, whilst the plant exchange sidings and loco depot used by DRS freight trains are to the south. Two water cranes are sited at the station (one at each end).
The station was also the southern terminus of the former Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway line from Egremont from August 1869 until its closure in March 1964.
Facilities
The station is not staffed and has no ticketing facilities, so these must be bought on the train or prior to travel. It does have a waiting room on the southbound platform and a shelter on the opposite side; the rest of the main buildings are in private commercial use. The platforms are linked by footbridge - this doesn't have ramps, so only the Barrow platform has step-free access. Train running information is provided by digital information screens, timetable posters and telephone.
Services
There are eleven trains a day from the station each weekday to Whitehaven and Carlisle northbound and twelve to Barrow southbound (with one train fewer each way on Saturdays) since the 2008 timetable change (an improvement of two each way compared to the previous 2007-8 service level). Certain southbound trains continue on to Lancaster. It was reported in November 2011 that Direct Rail Services had applied to the Office of Rail Regulation to operate one train in each direction between Carlisle and Sellafield to carry workers to Sellafield. Four trains per day each way now operate (since May 2015) using Mark 2 coaches and Class 37 diesel locomotives hired in from DRS to provide additional seating capacity for Sellafield plant workers.
There is no evening or Sunday service.