Aspatria railway station explained

Aspatria
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Aspatria, Cumberland
Country:England
Coordinates:54.7593°N -3.3313°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Network Rail
Manager:Northern Trains
Platforms:2
Tracks:2
Code:ASP
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:Maryport and Carlisle Railway
Pregroup:Maryport and Carlisle Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Years:12 April 1841
Events:Opened
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Map Type:United Kingdom Allerdale#Cumbria

Aspatria railway station is a railway station serving the town of Aspatria in Cumbria, England. It is on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History

The station was opened by the Maryport and Carlisle Railway on 12 April 1841, although the line heading north-east to Wigton was not completed until 1845.

The station was once the junction for the branch line to Mealsgate. Passenger trains on this line began on 2 April 1866, but ceased on 22 September 1930. Complete closure of the line followed on 1 December 1952.[1]

The station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, and then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Railways.

The station signal box was the last surviving example built by the Maryport and Carlisle company, prior to its closure and demolition in 1998.[2]

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has no ticket machine (though one is to be installed during 2019), so tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on the train (the main buildings are now in private residential use). Shelters are located on both platforms. Timetable posters, digital information screens and a telephone are provided to give train running information, whilst there is also public wifi access on offer. The platforms are linked by footbridge and there is step-free access to each one.[3]

Services

Following the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service between and, with some trains continuing to . During the evening, the station is served by an hourly service between Carlisle and Whitehaven. All services are operated by Northern Trains.[4]

Rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter

In May 2018, Northern introduced a Sunday service between and Barrow-in-Furness, the first Sunday service to operate south of Whitehaven for over 40 years.[5] [6]

On 5 February 2024 Northern was criticised for continuing to mispronounce the station name, six months after its announcements had been re-recorded. The name was still being announced "As-spat-ria" rather than "As-spay-tria". The company said it was aiming to complete the roll-out of its updates by the "summer".[7]

See also

Sources

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cumbria Railways - The Bolton Loop Maryport and Carlisle Railway. www.cumbria-railways.co.uk.
  2. Web site: Aspatria Signal Box . 19 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130602132949/http://www.signalbox.org/gallery/lm/aspatria.php . 2 June 2013 . dead .
  3. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/ASP/details.html Aspatria station facilities
  4. Web site: 16 May 2021. Train times: Carlisle to Preston and Manchester via Cumbrian Coast and Windermere to Manchester Airport. live. 8 May 2021. Northern Trains. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215843/https://d11vpqhghel6qd.cloudfront.net/images/timetables/bucket2/carlisle-to-preston-and-manchester-via-cumbrian-coast-and-windermere-to-manchester-airport-4379-qt90cd.pdf . 2 June 2021 .
  5. News: 2018-05-20. Cumbria's west coast rail services reinstated after 40 years. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-06-02.
  6. Web site: Baldwin. Beth. Long-awaited train service connecting Barrow and Millom returns after 40 years. live. 2021-06-02. Whitehaven News. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602221520/https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17107137.long-awaited-train-service-connecting-barrow-millom-returns-40-years/ . 2 June 2021 .
  7. Web site: Northern yet to fix Aspatria mispronunciation. 5 February 2024. www.bbc.co.uk.