Whitehaven railway station

junction diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Whitehaven (FR in blue; LNWR in red) The first station at Whitehaven was opened on 19 March 1847 by the Whitehaven Junction Railway (WJR), as the terminus of their line from . This station lay to the south of the present station, with the main entrance on Bransty Row. On the southern side of the town, the first section of the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway (W&FJR) opened on 1 June 1849 from a terminus at Whitehaven (Preston Street) to , but there was no connection between this line and the WJR suitable for passenger trains. In between the two stations stood the town centre and, to the east of that, Hospital Hill; a tunnel long was built beneath the latter, being completed in July 1852. In 1854, the W&FJR passenger trains began using the WJR station at Whitehaven, with Preston Street becoming a goods-only station. In 1865, the W&FJR was absorbed by the Furness Railway (FR) and, in 1866, the WJR was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). ==Facilities==

The ticket office is open six days per week and is closed evenings and Sundays; there is also a ticket machine available. Digital display screens, a passenger announcement system and information posters provide train running information. Step-free access is available through the main building to both platforms. ==Services==

Northern Trains operates a generally hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Barrow-in-Furness; no late evening service operates south of here. A few through trains operate to/from Lancaster via the Furness line. Northern Rail introduced a regular Sunday through service to Barrow via the coast at the May 2018 timetable change - the first such service south of Whitehaven for more than 40 years. Services run approximately hourly from mid-morning until early evening, with later trains starting and terminating here. This represented a major upgrade on the previous infrequent service of four per day each way to/from Whitehaven only. Repairs to the tunnel southwards to Corkickle and Millom/Barrow saw services beyond here suspended in July 2025, with a replacement bus service provided through the town to Corkickle for onward connections. This will remain until the old mine workings beneath the tunnel floor have been sealed and filled with grout - repairs are likely to continue until the spring of 2026. Services remain running to Workington and Carlisle. ==Notes==