It is the most northerly railway station in England, being less than 3 miles (4.8 km) from the border with Scotland. The station, with its long single island platform, lies immediately to the north of the Royal Border Bridge.
History
The station as seen in 1970
In 1847, the Great Hall of Berwick Castle had to be demolished to make way for the new station (the former West Wall of the castle still marks the boundary of the now-defunct station goods yard), which opened the following year.[1] This replaced an initial structure erected by the North British Railway, whose line from the north first reached the town in 1846.[2] The Newcastle and Berwick Railway meanwhile reached the southern bank of the River Tweed in March 1847, but it was another eighteen months before a temporary viaduct across the river was commissioned to allow through running between Edinburgh and Newcastle. This in turn was replaced by the current Royal Border Bridge in July 1850.[3] The station was rebuilt by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1927 and the buildings are Grade-II listed.[4]
The station was also at one time served by local stopping trains between Newcastle and Edinburgh and the branch line from Newtown St Boswells via Kelso (which joined the main line at Tweedmouth, on the other side of the river) from 1851 until closure in 1964.[5]
The station has a council-run car park nearby, and is staffed throughout the week during working hours.[6] Several self-service ticket machines are available for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Other facilities on offer on the concourse include a waiting room, Costa coffee shop, vending machine, payphone and toilets, whilst there is a First Class lounge on the platform. The two are linked by a fully accessible footbridge with lifts. Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, audible announcements and timetable posters.[citation needed]
Services
Northbound platform
London North Eastern Railway operate an hourly service that stops here. They go southbound to London Kings Cross calling at Newcastle, Darlington and York en route. In the other direction, there are services to Edinburgh with a few extensions to Aberdeen and one extension per day to each of Glasgow Central, Stirling and Inverness.[7]CrossCountry operates an hourly service in each direction during the day on their principle Edinburgh to Plymouth route. Northbound are services mainly to Edinburgh but an extension per day to Aberdeen and Glasgow Central. In the southbound direction there are services to Plymouth via Sheffield and Birmingham New Street with a couple of extensions per day to Penzance.[8]
From December 2019, one TransPennine Express service in each direction began to call at Berwick-upon-Tweed.[9] In September 2021, the operator announced that they would be introducing a five return trains per weekday semi-fast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh from December 2021, which call at Berwick.[10] These also serve the recently reopened stations on the route at Reston and East Linton enroute to Edinburgh.
Anderson, David (July 1996). "Steam Days at Berwick-upon-Tweed". Steam Days. 83: 403–13.
Anon. (May–June 1966). "Berwick". Perspective East Yorkshire. 15: 359.
Body, G. (1989). PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: Northern operating area (1st ed.). Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN1-8526-0072-1. OCLC59892452.
Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC22311137.
Stoton, Frederick (1909). "Berwick-on-Tweed (North British Railway)". Railway Magazine. 24: 473–8.
Warn, C. (Spring 1980). "Berwick area railways". Northumbriana. 19: 21–3.
