Braystones railway station explained

Braystones
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Braystones, Copeland
Country:England
Coordinates:54.4395°N -3.542°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Network Rail
Manager:Northern Trains
Platforms:1
Tracks:1
Code:BYS
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway
Pregroup:Furness Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Years:19 July 1849
Events:Opened
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Map Type:United Kingdom Copeland#Cumbria

Braystones is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast line, which runs between and . The station, situated 37miles north-west of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the villages of Beckermet and Braystones in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The station is an unstaffed request stop. It is situated directly on the coast in a remote location. Pearson's 1992 railway guide is moved to comment, "The tiny halts at Braystones and Nethertown are as remote as anything British Rail has to offer...".[1]

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 .[2] It was opened in stages, and the first section, that between and opened either on 1 June 1849 or on 21 July 1849.[3] The station was host to four LMS caravans from 1937 to 1939.[4]

The station buildings are still extant however are in private ownership. As of June 2021 the old station building is called Platform 9 3/4. A bus-stop style shelter is provided on the single platform.

Service

As of the 15 December 2019 timetable, five trains call in each direction (on request) from Monday to Friday, with one extra train in each direction on Saturdays. There is no late evening service, but a limited Sunday service of four trains in each direction (on request) was introduced at the May 2018 timetable change; the first to run over this section since 1976.

Notes and References

  1. Pearson's Railway Rides, The Cumbrian Coast. J M Pearson & Son, Staffs, 1992.
  2. Book: Rush, Robert W. . The Furness Railway 1843-1923 . The Oakwood Library of Railway History . 1973 . Oakwood Press . Lingfield . OL35 . 33–34 .
  3. Book: Butt, R.V.J. . The Directory of Railway Stations . 1995 . Patrick Stephens Ltd . Yeovil . 1-85260-508-1 . R508 . 42,195,248 .
  4. Book: McRae, Andrew. British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region) . Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One) . Foxline . 1997 . 1-870119-48-7. 22.