Heysham Port railway station
Heysham Port 
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| Location | |
| Place | Heysham Port |
| Local authority | Lancaster |
| Coordinates | 54°02′01″N 2°54′45″W / 54.0335°N 2.9125°WCoordinates: 54°02′01″N 2°54′45″W / 54.0335°N 2.9125°W |
| Grid reference | SD402600 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | HHB |
| Managed by | Northern |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| DfT category | F1 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 7,682 |
| 2012/13 |
 8,310 |
| 2013/14 |
9,064 |
| 2014/15 |
9,608 |
| 2015/16 |
9,128 |
| History | |
| Original company | Midland Railway |
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| 11 July 1904 | Opened as Heysham Harbour |
| 4 May 1970 | Relocated |
| 6 October 1975 | Closed |
| 11 May 1987 | Reopened as Heysham Sea Terminal |
| 28 September 1992 | Renamed Heysham Port |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Heysham Port from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Heysham Port railway station serves the port of Heysham in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the Morecambe Branch Line from Lancaster and is situated 4 1⁄4 miles (6.8 km) south of Morecambe.
Heysham Harbour station (hence its current station code) was opened by the Midland Railway on 11 July 1904. It was relocated to an adjacent site on 4 May 1970, and served boat trains for Belfast until the closure of the ferry route in April 1975. The train service was withdrawn on 6 October, but reinstated and the station renamed Heysham Sea Terminal, on 11 May 1987 to provide a rail connection with the daily sailing to Douglas run by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. The station acquired its present name on 28 September 1992. This was under the Regional Railways sector of British Rail.
As constructed, the station had three platforms, two signal boxes and an extensive goods depot and associated sidings to service the port complex (which dates from 1904). It handled a range of freight for export including livestock, parcels and fuel oil from a distribution terminal operated by Shell. None of these types of traffic have been handled here since the early 1980s - all freight through the port, mainly containers, is worked by road.
A frequent passenger service was provided by the Midland Railway for its work force at the port and the regular ferry sailings to Scotland, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland. Four years after opening, the MR used the line as a test track for a pioneering system of electrification, utilising a trio of purpose-built 3-car Electric Multiple Units powered by an overhead catenary carrying alternating current at 6600V, 25 Hz. Stock for the line was built at the company's Derby works and power was provided from their power plant at the harbour. Services ran to Morecambe on 13 April 1908 and by September extended to the LNWR main line station at Lancaster Castle. With two reversals required en-route and a relatively short journey between termini, the units were well suited for the busy route, which operated on a half-hourly frequency for much of the day. Long distance express trains routed by way of the former "Little" North Western Railway main line from Leeds via Skipton also used the station. The most notable was a daily through train to/from London St Pancras via Sheffield connecting with the ferry to Belfast. After the 1923 Grouping, the station and port came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The company developed traffic but made alterations to the passenger services, replacing the St Pancras service with one from London Euston via Preston and the West Coast Main Line and added a second regular boat service to and from Manchester Victoria. Services ran to and from Leeds and through carriages were provided for St Pancras passengers in summer until the onset of World War II.
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