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Kirkby Stephen railway station

Coordinates: 54°27′18″N 2°22′07″W / 54.4549076°N 2.3687030°W / 54.4549076; -2.3687030
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Kirkby Stephen
National Rail
General information
LocationKirkby Stephen, Eden
England
Coordinates54°27′18″N 2°22′07″W / 54.4549076°N 2.3687030°W / 54.4549076; -2.3687030
Grid referenceNY762066
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeKSW
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
1 May 1876Opened as Kirkby Stephen
1 October 1900Renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale
8 June 1953Renamed Kirkby Stephen West
6 May 1968Renamed Kirkby Stephen
4 May 1970Closed
14 July 1986Reopened
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 27,654
2019/20Increase 30,912
2020/21Decrease 5,572
2021/22Increase 25,758
2022/23Increase 29,888
Services
Preceding station Northern Following station
Garsdale
towards Leeds via Settle
Settle and Carlisle Line Appleby
towards Carlisle
Location
Kirkby Stephen is located in the former Eden District
Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen
Location in Eden, Cumbria
Kirkby Stephen is located in Cumbria
Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen
Location in Cumbria, England
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Kirkby Stephen is a railway station in Eden in Cumbria, England, on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds via Settle. The station is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the market town of Kirkby Stephen, just within the civil parish of Wharton, and also serves the nearby villages of Newbiggin-on-Lune and Ravenstonedale. It lies 41 miles 35 chains (66.7 km) south of Carlisle, and is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History

[edit]

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders,[1] and opened to traffic in May 1876.[2]

The station is more than 1+14 miles (2 km) from the town (and over 150 feet (46 m) above it) at Midland Hill, just within the civil parish of Wharton. It was opened as Kirkby Stephen, but it was renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale in 1900, and then Kirkby Stephen West in 1953, to avoid confusion with the older Kirkby Stephen, later known as Kirkby Stephen East, station in the town, 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.[3] Had it been any closer to the town, the climb up to the summit of the line at Ais Gill would have exceeded this limit considerably. The West station reverted to the name Kirkby Stephen in 1968, but was closed (along with all other stations on the line except Settle and Appleby) in May 1970. 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.[4] The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011,[5] 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 (erected in the mid-1990s after becoming redundant at its original location at Guiseley).[6] No ticket machine is present, so passengers must buy in advance or from the conductor on the train (though operator Northern is in the process of installing one and also digital information screens as part of a rolling station upgrade programme on the route).[7] Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road to Kendal.[3]

Services

[edit]
Northern Trains
Route 7
Settle & Carlisle
& Bentham lines
Carlisle
Armathwaite
Lazonby & Kirkoswald
Langwathby
Appleby
Kirkby Stephen
Garsdale
Dent
Ribblehead
Horton-in-Ribblesdale
Settle
Heysham Port
ferry/water interchange
Morecambe
Bare Lane
Lancaster
Carnforth
Wennington
Bentham
Clapham
Giggleswick
Long Preston
Hellifield
Gargrave
Skipton
Keighley
Bingley
Shipley
Leeds

The station is served by eight trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds.[8] 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 six departures each way on Sundays throughout the year, including a through train to and from Nottingham. DalesRail services between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle used to call at the station on summer Sundays, but this service did not run in 2023. A replacement Saturday service from Rochdale via Manchester Victoria marketed as the "Yorkshire Dales Explorer" is due to operate from the start of the summer 2024 timetable. However, this will terminate/start at Ribblehead further to the south and passengers will need to change there or at Settle to access it.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ Quick, Michael (2020). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain; a Chronology (PDF) (5 ed.). Market Drayton: The railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 252. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b Kirkby Stephen station bridge Craven, S Geograph.org Retrieved 24 November 2016
  4. ^ S&C Trust website. Archived 27 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Johnston, Howard (10 August 2011). "Regional News". Rail. Peterborough. p. 24.
  6. ^ Kirkby Stephen station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 5 December 2016
  7. ^ "Better stations are coming to Northern"[permanent dead link]Northern news article; Retrieved 23 November 2019
  8. ^ Table 35 National Rail timetable, May 2023
[edit]
Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Garsdale   Northern Trains
Settle and Carlisle Line
  Appleby
  Historical railways  
Garsdale   Midland Railway
Settle and Carlisle Line
  Crosby Garrett