Plans To Turn Former Station Waiting Room Into Pub
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Plans to turn a Grade II listed railway station’s former waiting room back into a pub have been submitted.
These are the first three paragraphs of the article.
Network Rail wants to refurbish the room at Carlisle’s station, which is now a storage room and kitchen.
The first class waiting room, which was until recently used as a pub, was built by architect William Tite in 1880 as an extension to his original 1847 neo-Tudor station designs.
The plans are part of the £27m Carlisle Gateway project to turn the city’s station into a “national interchange” transport hub, funded by central government, Cumberland Council and Network Rail.
I very much like this idea.
Carlisle could be turned into a national interchange, that was almost unique in the world.
- Rail services across the Borderlands could be improved, to the cities of Glasgow, Lancaster, Leeds, Newcastle and York.
- Rail services could be developed, so visitors could explore the Lake District by rail.
- The Eden Project at Morecambe would be a rail-accessible attraction, that was just an hour away from Carlisle.
- The Borders Railway from Edinburgh could be extended to Carlisle.
- All services would be zero-carbon, with power coming from either batteries or hydrogen.
- Services would be tourism-friendly, with space for bicycles, large panoramic windows and high-class catering.
Current times between London and Carlisle could be reduced to under three-and-a-half hours, with reductions of up to an hour, as High Speed Two is eventually delivered.
The Anonymous Widower 
I’ve been in the former pub/waiting room quite a few times, and was disappointed to find it closed when I last visited Carlisle. This refurbishment by NR seems to be new, and isn’t mentioned on the site for Carlisle Gateway https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/regeneration-project/carlisle-city-centre-projects/carlisle-station-gateway This whole redevelopment should be a great improvement on the current situatiion, which is pretty shoddy.
Comment by Peter Robins | October 25, 2024 |
I remember changing trains at Carlisle a few years ago and all I could find was a Costa hot chocolate outside the station.
From the Network Rail pictures, it looks like the pub in Carlisle station could be an architectural winner.
We need more decent pubs in stations. Recently, I had time to kill in Liverpool Lime Street and found the pub there very acceptable, despite it being a Wetherspoon’s.
At least all pubs in that chain serve the non-alcoholic Ghost Ship, which is my regular drink.
Comment by AnonW | October 25, 2024 |
There’s some other photos of the pub at https://www1.camra.org.uk/pubs/301-miles-from-london-carlisle-144436 – that’s the outside on the platform side.
There’s quite a few other excellent station buffet conversions around – York, for example, and the Harrogate one belongs to the same group. The Newcastle one is a spectacular high-ceilinged room. The Sheffield one even brews its own beers. Plus the legendary one at Stalybridge, though you’re unlikely to change trains there – you have to specifically go there.
Comment by Peter Robins | October 25, 2024
Oh, and I shouldn’t forget Huddersfield, which Betjeman (probably correctly) described as “the most splendid station façade in England”, and where there are pubs at both ends of the main station building (IIRC these were originally both booking offices for the 2 companies who built the station). There’s also the timber-built tea-room, which is being dismantled and then rebuilt a few metres away as part of the current station renovation. Be interesting to see what that looks like when it’s finished – not many of those wooden station buildings left.
Comment by Peter Robins | October 25, 2024