Sellafield railway station

Sellafield
National Rail
General information
LocationSellafield, Copeland
England
Coordinates54°25′00″N 3°30′38″W / 54.4166451°N 3.5104538°W / 54.4166451; -3.5104538
Grid referenceNY020034
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeSEL
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Original companyWhitehaven and Furness Junction Railway
Pre-groupingFurness Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
21 July 1849Opened as Sellafield and Calderbridge
1955Renamed Sellafield
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.242 million
 Interchange 68
2019/20Increase 0.260 million
 Interchange Increase 120
2020/21Decrease 62,524
 Interchange Decrease 41
2021/22Increase 0.130 million
 Interchange Increase 142
2022/23Increase 0.137 million
 Interchange Decrease 126
Location
Sellafield is located in the former Borough of Copeland
Sellafield
Sellafield
Location in Copeland, Cumbria
Sellafield is located in Cumbria
Sellafield
Sellafield
Location in Cumbria, England
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Sellafield is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 35 miles (56 km) north-west of Barrow-in-Furness, serves Sellafield in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The station, which dates from 1850, is a busy freight location, because much of the nuclear waste for Sellafield's THORP nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is carried there by train 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 from nearby towns and villages.[1]

The station is at the end of the single-line section from Whitehaven, which is operated using the electric key token system. From there, the line south towards Ravenglass and Barrow is double track, except for the final section between Park South Junction (south of Askam) and Barrow, which was reduced to a single track in the late 1980s.

The station configuration is unusual in that the southbound ('up' line) is bi-directional through the station and has platform faces on both sides.[2] However, only the eastern platform face is used, the other side being fenced off. This allows trains from the south to terminate and 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 exchange sidings for the plant, and the loco depot used by Direct Rail Services freight trains, are to the south. There are two water cranes at the station, one at each end.[3]

The station used to be the southern terminus of the former Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway line from Egremont, from August 1869 until the line's closure in March 1964.[4]

A 1903 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram, showing (right) railways in the vicinity of Sellafield.
  1. ^ "Places to Visit - Sellafield"Cumbrian Coast Line website; Retrieved 14 November 2016
  2. ^ Sellafield station, looking south Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org; Retrieved 2 December 2016
  3. ^ Sellafield Station Old Cumbria Gazetteer; Retrieved 2 December 2016
  4. ^ Marshall, J (1981) Forgotten Railways North-West England, David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p.163