Kirkby Stephen railway station explained

Kirkby Stephen
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Kirkby Stephen, Eden
Country:England
Coordinates:54.4549°N -2.3687°W
Map Type:United Kingdom Eden#Cumbria
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Network Rail
Manager:Northern Trains
Platforms:2
Tracks:2
Code:KSW
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:Midland Railway
Pregroup:Midland Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Years:1 May 1876
Events:Opened as Kirkby Stephen
Years1:1 October 1900
Events1:Renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale
Years2:8 June 1953
Events2:Renamed Kirkby Stephen West
Years3:6 May 1968
Events3:Renamed Kirkby Stephen
Years4:4 May 1970
Events4:Closed
Years5:14 July 1986
Events5:Reopened
Footnotes: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 and via . The station is situated 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 41miles south of Carlisle, and is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History

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 NaNmiles from the town (and over 150feet 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).[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.

Stationmasters

Services

The station is served by eight trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to . 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 . 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 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 further to the south and passengers will need to change there or at Settle to access it.

Notes and References

  1. News: . Notes by the Way. . Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald . British Newspaper Archive . 1 November 1884 . 12 July 2016 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  2. Book: Quick, Michael. Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain; a Chronology. 2020. PDF. The railway and Canal Historical Society. Market Drayton. 5. 1 December 2020. 252 .
  3. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1398508 Kirkby Stephen station bridge
  4. http://www.settle-carlisle.co.uk/stations/kirkbystephen/index.cfm?c_Stn=006 S&C Trust website.
  5. News: Regional News . Johnston, Howard . Rail . Peterborough . 24 . 10 August 2011.
  6. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/ksw/details.html Kirkby Stephen station facilities
  7. https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/news/latest-news/1127-better-stations-are-coming-to-northern "Better stations are coming to Northern"
  8. . 1871 . 1871-1879 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 743 . 5 April 2021.
  9. . 1881 . 1881-1898 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 48 . 5 April 2021.
  10. News: . Death of Mr Thomas Moss, Long Marton. Penrith Observer. England . 15 April 1924 . 5 April 2021 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  11. News: . Death of Mr E. Proctor . Penrith Observer . England . 9 September 1924 . 5 April 2021 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .