Kirkby-in-Furness railway station explained

Kirkby-in-Furness
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Kirkby-in-Furness, South Lakeland
Country:England
Coordinates:54.2329°N -3.1872°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Network Rail
Manager:Northern Trains
Platforms:2
Tracks:2
Code:KBF
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:Furness Railway
Pregroup:Furness Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Years:24 August 1846
Events:Opened as Kirkby
Years1:1927
Events1:Renamed Kirkby-in-Furness
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Map Type:United Kingdom South Lakeland#Cumbria

Kirkby-in-Furness is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between and . The station, situated NaNmiles north of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the village of Kirkby-in-Furness in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The name Kirkby-in-Furness did not exist until the creation of the railway line. The village in fact is an amalgamation of six smaller villages and hamlets.[1] The name was chosen almost at random by the train company for the station and was eventually used for the collection of villages.

In Victorian times, the station gained fame as the station with the longest platform seat in the country. However, this was removed many years ago.

Facilities

There are no longer any permanent buildings at the station apart from a footbridge and shelters on each platform (that on the northbound one being the more substantial).[2] The station has (like others on the line) been fitted with a ticket vending machine, to allow passengers to buy their tickets prior to travel.[3] Step-free access is available to both platforms, though this requires the use of a barrow crossing for northbound passengers and so care must be taken when used. Train running information is provided by telephone, digital display screens and timetable posters.[4]

Services

There is a basic hourly service in each direction, north to, and, and south to . A few continue through to .[5] The last two evening northbound trains terminate at Millom.

A Sunday service (the first for more than forty years) was introduced at the May 2018 timetable change - this runs broadly hourly from mid-morning until the early evening (though some services only run to/from Millom).

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cumbriancoastline.co.uk/?Places_To_Visit:Kirkby-in-Furness Places to visit - Kirkby-in-Furness
  2. http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk06478.htm Kirkby-in-Furness station
  3. http://www.crug.org.uk/fares-2019/ "Fares 2019"
  4. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/kbf/details.html Kirkby-in-Furness station facilities
  5. GB eNRT December 2019 Edition, Table 100 (Network Rail)