Carlisle Citadel Station has been recognised as one of national historical importance in a new book 'The English railway station'. Author Stephen Parissien says that "Union stations, unifying different railway companies’ lines in one terminus, were common in America and Germany but not in England. Sir William Tite’s magnificent Citadel Station at Carlisle of 1847-8 is a rare example, originally intended for seven railway companies.
“When the Midland Railway arrived in the burgeoning city in 1876, it was not encouraged to build a separate station on a different site, in the usual muddled British way, but was happily accommodated with six of its rivals at Citadel Station.
“Built in fine, local red sandstone, its grand, five-bay, buttressed porte-cochère is complemented by a fine, ecclesiastical-looking clock tower topped by an open stone octagon.”
Article in Evening News and Star here
English Heritage blog here