Bootle railway station

Bootle
Location
Place	Bootle
Local authority	Copeland
Coordinates	54°17′24″N 3°23′42″W / 54.290°N 3.395°W / 54.290; -3.395Coordinates: 54°17′24″N 3°23′42″W / 54.290°N 3.395°W / 54.290; -3.395
Grid reference	SD093892
Operations
Station code	BOC
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	13,397
2005/06	12,537
2006/07	14,512
2007/08	14,403
2008/09	17,828
2009/10	15,582
2010/11	14,946
2011/12	12,792
History
Original company	Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Furness Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
8 July 1850 (1850-07-08)	Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bootle from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Bootle Railway Station, situated in the hamlet of Bootle Station, serves the village of Bootle and the neighbouring hamlet of Hycemoor in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a request stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line 24 miles (39 km) north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services.

History

The Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway was authorised in 1847 for a line which would link the town of Whitehaven with the Furness Railway at Broughton-in-Furness.^[1] It was opened in stages, and the section between Ravenglass and Bootle opened either on 19 July 1850^[2] or on 8 July 1850.^[3] On 28 October 1850 the last section between Bootle and Broughton-in-Furness was formally opened.^[2]

The station buildings in 1998

Services

Monday to Saturdays there is generally an hourly (with some longer gaps in the early morning and afternoon) request service southbound to Barrow and northbound towards Whitehaven and Carlisle. Some services continue beyond Barrow via the Furness Line.

There is no evening or Sunday service.

Explosion on 22 March 1945

At about 22:17 on 22 March 1945 a wagon containing depth charges in southbound freight train caught fire on approaching Bootle. The train crew, driver H. Goodall and fireman H.N. Stubbs, on becoming aware of the fire, stopped the train south of Bootle station. Despite the fierce fire, the crew isolated the burning wagon by uncoupling the rear portion of the train, then drawing it forward to before uncoupling the burning wagon. With the wagon isolated, the fireman went forward to protect the northbound line while the driver went back in a possible attempt to fight the fire. At this point the depth charges violently exploded, killing the driver and creating a crater 105 feet long to a depth of 50 feet.

View southward, towards Barrow-in-Furness and Carnforth in 1966

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Bootle railway station from National Rail
• "Report on the Explosion that occurred at Bootle on 22nd March 1945". Retrieved 5 September 2010. 

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Ravenglass		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line Mondays-Saturdays only		Silecroft
Historical railways
Eskmeals Line open, station closed		Furness Railway Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway		Silecroft Line and station open