Kirkby Stephen railway station

Kirkby Stephen National Rail
Location
Place Kirkby Stephen
Local authority Eden
Grid reference NY762066
Operations
Station code KSW
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12 Increase 32,076
2012/13 Decrease 31,262
2013/14 Decrease 30,138
2014/15 Decrease 29,768
2015/16 Decrease 26,786
History
1876 opened
1970 closed
1986 opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kirkby Stephen from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Kirkby Stephen railway station serves the town of Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, England. It is operated by Northern, which provides all passenger train services. It is 41 1⁄2 miles (67 km) south of Carlisle on the Settle-Carlisle Line.

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[1]

The station is over a mile from the town (and over 150 feet (46 m) above it) at Midland Hill and was formerly known as Kirkby Stephen West because of the older Kirkby Stephen or Kirkby Stephen East station situated in the town, which was on the North Eastern Railway's Stainmore and Eden Valley lines. Its remote location was necessitated by the Midland Railway's desire to keep gradients on the line to no greater than 1 in 100 for fast running.[2] Had it been located any closer to the town, the resulting climb up to the summit of the line at Ais Gill would have exceeded this limit considerably. The West station was closed (along with all other stations on the line except Settle and Appleby) in May 1970, but it was reopened by British Rail in July 1986.

The station is leased by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust, which comprehensively restored it in 2009.[3] The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011,[4] which includes a cafe and exhibition of items related to the Settle and Carlisle railway. Platform 2 (northbound) has a stone shelter. The old goods shed to the south is now in private commercial use, goods facilities having been withdrawn here in 1964.

Step-free access to both platforms is available (ramps to platform 2 from the road below), along with a footbridge.[5] No ticket machine is present, so passengers must buy in advance or from the conductor on the train. Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road to Kendal.[2]

Services

The station is served by seven trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds.[6] A new early morning Monday to Friday service southbound began in May 2011. The first weekday northbound service now runs through from Leeds, rather than arriving from Carlisle and returning there after a reversal as before.

There are four departures each way on Sundays throughout the year. DalesRail services between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle also call at the station on summer Sundays.

References

  1. ↑ "Notes by the Way.". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 Kirkby Stephen station bridge Craven, S Geograph.org Retrieved 24 November 2016
  3. ↑ S&C Trust website.
  4. ↑ Johnston, Howard (10 August 2011). "Regional News". Rail. Peterborough. p. 24.
  5. ↑ Kirkby Stephen station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 5 December 2016
  6. ↑ Table 42 National Rail timetable, May 2016
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Garsdale   Northern
Settle-Carlisle Line		   Appleby

Coordinates: 54°27′18″N 2°22′08″W / 54.455°N 2.369°W / 54.455; -2.369

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