Carlisle Railway Station

Recent articles in the Cumberland News and Carlisle Living Magazine mention the re-opening of the Undercroft below Carlisle Railway Station for special tours this Halloween (2010) and mention the haunting like experiences that have reported both above and below ground at the station.

The following article by Phil Coleman entitled ‘Trio plan all-night vigil in ‘haunted’ rooms under Carlisle rail station’ appeared in the Cumberland News on 29 September 2010.

It is one of Carlisle’s most secret places, a vast network of dusty rooms and corridors shrouded in gloom.

Yet despite the chilly atmosphere that pervades the Carlisle Railway Station Undercroft, three of the managers who run the station above it plan to complete an all-night vigil there.

Stuart Davison, Linsey Robinson, Sue Howarth and Tammy Parkinson hope to raise money for the CLIC Sergeant children’s cancer charity.

Their mission will involve spending the night in the railway station’s sprawling series of little known and cavernous rooms and tunnels.

Covering several acres, the massive underground space was created in 1847 when the station was built on slum clearance land known as the Fever Pit, according to a new website about the site which has just been launched.

The enthusiasts behind the website say they have uncovered many past uses for the subterranean rooms.

They include a paraffin lamp store, staff accommodation, a buffet room, and a butchers’ room, complete with wall hooks for hanging meat and blood drainage gullies.

Stuart, the station manager, said: “Most people won’t venture into parts of the Undercroft – the offices upstairs are bad enough for some. It’s very dark and not the most pleasant place to be on your own.”

Group station manager Sue in particular has had a few unnerving experiences while in the Undercroft.

She said: “There are unexplained draughts that seem to come up from the floor and blow in your face – a real feeling of being watched and not being alone, and doors that open and close down an empty corridor.

“Reports of a headless man on Platform 8, a veiled lady who walks the corridors, the pointing man in the Undercroft and lights on the station that switch on at night are just a few of the things that have led us to dare to spend the night at the station.”

The Clic Sergeant charity has been nominated as Virgin Trains’ charity. The colleagues will do their vigil on the night of Saturday, October 30, into the early hours of Halloween.