Newark Northgate railway station

Notes
	Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Newark Northgate
Newark Northgate
	Southbound view of the station from Platform 2 in July 2012
General information
Location	Newark-on-Trent, Newark and Sherwood; England
Coordinates	53°04′52″N 0°47′56″W / 53.081°N 0.799°W
Grid reference	SK804545
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	LNER
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	NNG
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Opened	15 July 1852
Passengers
2018/19	0.961 million
Interchange	0.236 million
2019/20	0.910 million
Interchange	0.171 million
2020/21	0.181 million
Interchange	40,159
2021/22	0.674 million
Interchange	0.161 million
2022/23	0.886 million
Interchange	0.153 million
Listed Building – Grade II
Feature	Northgate Railway Station, Appletongate
Designated	20 May 1988
Reference no.	1196065
Notes
Notes
	Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Newark-on-Trent

Legend

					East Coast Main Line
					Nottingham to Lincoln Line
					Newark flat crossing
					Newark Northgate

					Newark Castle
					Great North Road
					Nottingham to Lincoln Line
					East Coast Main Line

Newark Northgate railway station (alternatively Newark North Gate) is on the East Coast Main Line serving the market town of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It is 120 miles 8 chains (193.3 km) down the line from London King's Cross^[2] and is situated on the main line between Grantham to the south and Retford to the north.^[3]^[2] The station is Grade II listed.^[1]

Newark-on-Trent is a market town, 25 miles (40 km) east of Nottingham. Newark has another station, Newark Castle, operated by East Midlands Railway and closer to the town centre.

History

The station is on the Great Northern Railway Towns Line from Peterborough to Doncaster which opened on 15 July 1852,^[4] the easier to construct Fens Loop Line via Boston and Lincoln had opened two years earlier.^[5]

The station opened without any ceremony. The first train of passengers from the north arrived at 6.38 am and those from the south arrived at 8.05 am.^[6] The buildings comprised a booking-office, cloak room, first and second class ladies’ and other waiting rooms, and a large refreshment room 51 feet (16 m) by 21 feet (6.4 m), and a smaller one 21 feet (6.4 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m). The platforms were 435 feet (133 m) long, with awnings provided for 50 feet (15 m) of their length. There was a coal depot, goods warehouse and sheds to accommodate 4 locomotives.

The station became a junction in 1879 with the opening of the Great Northern Railway branch to Bottesford, built as a northern extension of the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway which opened at the same time. Services from Newark were provided to Northampton or Leicester and also to Nottingham. Services onto the joint line from Newark were withdrawn by 1922.^[7] The line was much used for through goods, especially between Newark and Northampton. The joint line closed in 1962 except for isolated fragments, but the Newark to Bottesford Junction section survived until 1988.

On 9 July 1928, King George V and Queen Mary arrived at the station from King's Cross where they were received by the 6th Duke of Portland.^[8]

The short connection to the Newark Castle to Lincoln line was opened in 1965 by British Rail to maintain a link between the East Coast Main Line and Lincoln following the closure of the branch from the latter to Grantham. This remains in use today by trains to Lincoln and Grimsby.^[9]^{[failed verification]}

Newark Flat Crossing

The station is just south of the Newark Flat Crossing,^[10] one of the few remaining flat railway crossings in the UK. The East Coast Main Line is crossed by the Nottingham-Lincoln line. Trains on the East Coast Main Line not calling at Newark Northgate have to slow from 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) at the crossing. There are plans to grade-separate the crossing by providing a flyover for east–west services, with a shallow enough gradient to accommodate freight trains. A key geographical constraint on the construction of a flyover will be the proximity of the site to the River Trent and the A1 trunk road. The benefits of a flyover would include higher capacity on both the East Coast Main Line and the Nottingham-Lincoln line, for both passengers and freight; journey time improvements; and a more reliable timetable. Network Rail's final Route Utilisation Strategy for the East Midlands estimated that a flyover would have a benefit:cost ratio of 1.4, with further benefits which could not be taken account of in the standard project appraisal procedures. The RUS recommended that the provision of a flyover at Newark was further developed in Control Period 4 (2009–2014) to refine the infrastructure costs and potential benefits, with the possibility of constructing it in Control Period 5 (2014–2019).^[11]

Services

The station has 3 platforms and is served by trains operated by London North Eastern Railway and East Midlands Railway. Platform 1 serves intercity trains to Doncaster, York, Leeds, Hull, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, platform 2 to Peterborough and London, and platform 3 to Lincoln and London.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[12]^[13]^{[needs update]}

2 tph to London King's Cross
1 tp2h to York
1 tp2h to Lincoln (non-stop)
1 tph to Edinburgh Waverley via Newcastle
1 tph to Lincoln (stopping)

The station is also served by limited intercity services to Glasgow, Leeds and Hull as well as a limited service to Nottingham which reverses at the station and continues via the Nottingham to Lincoln Line.

Preceding station	National Rail		Following station
Grantham		London North Eastern Railway London to York/Lincoln	Retford
Grantham		London North Eastern Railway London to York/Lincoln	Lincoln
Peterborough		London North Eastern Railway London to Edinburgh	Doncaster
Terminus		East Midlands Railway Newark to Grimsby	Collingham
Newark Castle Limited Service		East Midlands Railway Newark to Grimsby	Collingham
	Disused railways
Claypole		Great Northern Railway East Coast Main Line	Carlton on Trent
Cotham		Great Northern Railway Nottingham to Newark	Terminus
Cotham		Great Northern Railway Leicester Belgrave Road to Newark	Terminus

Station name

There has been significant ambiguity about the correct form of the station's name. Physical signage on and around the station refer to "Newark Northgate" whilst some booking systems refer to "Newark North Gate". On exiting the station, the old British Rail sign says just "Northgate" and road signs towards the station say 'Northgate' along with local businesses and the bus companies.

Station car parks

There are three car parks in the immediate area for the railway station. They are operated by the railway car parks and National Car Parks (NCP).

Railway Northgate Car Park - 289 spaces

NCP Northgate Car Park - 371 Spaces

Of the three main car parks in the area, the NCP and the Railway car parks are the most conveniently situated for the railway station facilities.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Historic England, "Northgate Railway Station, Appletongate (1196065)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 30 December 2016
^ ^a ^b Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 16C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
^ "Newark Northgate (NNG)". National Rail. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
^ "Newark - The Great Northern line". Lincolnshire Chronicle. England. 23 July 1852. Retrieved 28 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Body, p.116
^ "Newark - Great Northern Railway". Stamford Mercury. England. 23 July 1852. Retrieved 28 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Bradshaws Railway Guide, July 1922.
^ "Royal Visit to Newark". Grantham Journal. England. 14 July 1928. Retrieved 28 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Network Rail study proposes new platform at Lincoln station and faster trains to Nottingham" Pidluznyj, S, The Lincolnite news article, 12 March 2018, Retrieved 17 June 2019
^ "Newark Crossing - Newark-on-Trent".
^ "East Midlands". Network Rail. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
^ Table 26, 27 National Rail timetable, May 2021
^ "May 2021 Timetable Changes - Newark North Gate". East Midlands Railway. May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

References

Body, G. (1986), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 1, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-712-9
National Rail
NCP Newark Northgate Station Car Park