Langwathby railway station explained

Langwathby
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Langwathby, Eden
Country:England
Coordinates:54.6944°N -2.6636°W
Map Type:United Kingdom Eden#Cumbria
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Network Rail
Manager:Northern Trains
Platforms:2
Tracks:2
Code:LGW
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 Longwathby
Years1:1 October 1876
Events1:Renamed Langwathby
Years2:4 May 1970
Events2:Closed
Years3:14 July 1986
Events3:Reopened
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Langwathby is a railway station on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated 19miles south-east of Carlisle, serves the village of Langwathby, Eden in Cumbria, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History

The station was built by the Midland Railway and opened in 1876. The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[1] It closed when local stopping trains over the Settle-Carlisle Line were withdrawn in May 1970, but was reopened by British Rail in July 1986.

Stationmasters

Facilities

The Carlisle-bound (down) station building has been converted into the Brief Encounter Tea Rooms and an antique shop. An enclosed bus-shelter style waiting room has been provided at the Carlisle end of the platform (a stone shelter is also present on the Leeds-bound platform). Step-free access is available to both platforms via ramps from the road below.[5] The station is unstaffed. Tickets can be bought at the station from a vending machine installed in 2019. Train running information is available via timetable posters, digital information screens (also installed in 2019) or telephone.

Accidents and incidents

Services

Eight northbound and seven southbound services call at Langwathby on weekdays and five trains in each direction on Sundays. The station was also served by a single DalesRail train from Preston & Blackpool North to Carlisle (and return) on Sundays during the summer months (but this is currently suspended until spring 2024).[7] One additional call each way was instituted at the summer 2018 timetable change as part of DfT-mandated Northern franchise improvements.

Services through to Carlisle were suspended from 9 February 2016 (until March 2017) by a landslip at Eden Brow (near), which destabilised the embankment on the eastern side of the railway where it passes through the Eden Gorge. An emergency timetable was in operation, with trains only operating as far as Armathwaite (with a bus link to Carlisle) northbound and Appleby southbound until repairs were completed in the spring of 2017.[8] Following the successful completion of the repair work, the regular timetable resumed on 31 March 2017.

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. . 1871 . 1871-1879 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 736 . 13 March 2021.
  3. . 1881 . 1881-1898 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 39 . 13 March 2021.
  4. News: . New Stationmaster at Little Salkeld . Bradford Observer . England . 10 November 1959 . 13 March 2021 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  5. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/lgw/details.html Langwathby station facilities
  6. Book: Hall, Stanley . The Railway Detectives . 1990 . Ian Allan . London . 0 7110 1929 0 . 95 .
  7. GB National Rail Timetable May 2023; Table 35
  8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-36726195 Landslip-hit Settle-to-Carlisle line section shut until 2017