Flimby railway station

Flimby
Flimby railway station in 2002 Photograph by Ben Brooksbank
Location
Place	Flimby
Local authority	Allerdale
Grid reference	NY020338
Operations
Station code	FLM
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	5,939
2005/06	6,350
2006/07	4,832
2007/08	5,809
2008/09	6,884
2009/10	8,756
2010/11	12,770
2011/12	15,746
2012/13	14,238
2013/14	13,566
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Flimby from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Flimby railway station serves the village of Flimby in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a request stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line 29 miles (47 km) south east of Carlisle railway station. It is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services.

History

Flimby railway station looking south west to Siddick and Barrow (2013)

Flimby railway station was opened by the Whitehaven Junction Railway in 1846 along with the rest of the stations on the line from Maryport to Whitehaven Bransty.^[1]

Service

There is generally an hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Whitehaven railway station with most daytime trains going onwards to Barrow-in-Furness. On Sundays there are four trains each way to Carlisle and Whitehaven (no Sunday service south of there). All of these trains only stop at Flimby on request.^[2]

In the aftermath of the November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods Flimby saw its passenger numbers soar because of the closure of road transport between the north and south of the town of Workington.^[3] Additional peak time services were added for 26–27 November, followed by a new hourly shuttle service northbound to Maryport and southbound to Workington. This shuttle train was timetabled to always stop at Flimby, briefly reversing its status as a request only stop. This operated between 30 November 2009 and 28 May 2010. Workington North railway station, a temporary station, opened south of Flimby on 30 November 2009, reducing the pressure on trains at Flimby. In addition, all services between Workington, Workington North, Flimby and Maryport were free of charge for this period.^[4]

In January 2014, services through the station had to be suspended for several days following flood damage to a 200yd (180m) section of track south of the station caused by strong winds & tidal surges. The line was closed for a week whilst repairs were carried out.^[5]

Accidents

On 1 February 1858, near Flimby colliery which is around a mile north of Flimby railway station, a coal train from Maryport was struck by a scheduled mixed goods and passenger train. It was said that the sharp curve on the line prevented the drivers from seeing each other. The crew of the two trains jumped out and only the fireman of the passenger train was hurt. It was found the two drivers were not to blame and it was miscommunication between the signalman near the colliery and the Maryport telegraph clerk that causes the clerk to tell the driver of the coal train to proceed. Whilst the clerk was away a third message came through, to which the son of the signalman at the colliery replied "GD" meaning "good", and so the signalman allowed the passenger train to proceed, thus causing the accident.^[6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flimby railway station.

• Train times and station information for Flimby railway station from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Maryport		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line		Workington
	Historical railways
Maryport		Northern Rail 2009-10 Temporary Service		Workington North

Coordinates: 54°41′24″N 3°31′16″W / 54.690°N 3.521°W / 54.690; -3.521