Armathwaite railway station

Armathwaite railway station is a railway station which serves the village of Armathwaite in Cumbria, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services.

Armathwaite
LocationArmathwaite, Eden
England
Coordinates54°48′34″N 2°46′20″W
Grid referenceNY504463
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeAWT
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
1 May 1876Opened
5 May 1970Closed
14 July 1986Reopened
Passengers
2015/16 5,950
2016/17 2,180[lower-alpha 1]
2017/18 7,100
2018/19 7,616
2019/20 9,510
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It is now, since the closure of Cotehill (1952), Cumwhinton (1956) and Scotby (1942) stations, the final stop on the Settle-Carlisle Line before the terminus at Carlisle. It was opened in May 1876, closed in May 1970 when local passenger trains ceased on the route and reopened by British Rail in July 1986. By then, the original station building on the Carlisle-bound platform had been sold for private use so a passenger shelter was built at the northern end of that platform. A brick-built passenger waiting room exists on the Leeds-bound platform.

History

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[1] The original station building, now a private house, is a medium sized style station built from local red sandstone.[2]

The station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. It then passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. Sectorisation was introduced by British Rail in the 1980s, and when the station was reopened, it was served by Regional Railways until the Privatisation of British Rail.

The line through the station is often used as a diversionary route for the West Coast Main Line.

Facilities

The platforms can be reached from the nearby road (southbound) or car park (northbound), but there is no step-free access to either one.[3] Timetable information posters, a telephone link and PIS displays are available to give train running information, but there are no ticket-buying facilities at the station (these must be bought in advance or on the train). Northern is planning to install a ticket machine here in the coming years as part of a wider programme of station improvements across its network.

Services

Route 7:
Bentham Line and
Settle & Carlisle Line
Carlisle
Armathwaite
Lazonby and Kirkoswald
Langwathby
Appleby
Kirkby Stephen
Garsdale
Dent
Ribblehead
Horton-in-Ribblesdale
Settle
Heysham Port
Morecambe
Bare Lane
Lancaster
Carnforth
Wennington
Bentham
Clapham
Giggleswick
Long Preston
Hellifield
Gargrave
Skipton
Keighley
Bingley
Shipley
Leeds
Leeds-bound passenger waiting room

Eight northbound and seven southbound trains serve the station Mondays to Saturdays, with six trains each way calling on Sundays (including a summer DalesRail service to and from Blackpool North).[4]

Services to Carlisle were suspended from 9 February 2016 due to a landslip just north of the station at Eden Brows (near Low House level crossing), 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 from Leeds terminating/starting here and a rail replacement bus link taking passengers forward to Carlisle.[5] This continued until the end of March 2017, when the £23 million project to repair the embankment and reinstate the track bed was completed by Network Rail.[6] Whilst the repairs were in progress, only the northbound platform and line was in use - the southbound platform and line reopened for passenger service as scheduled on 31 March 2017.

Armathwaite signal box

Armathwaite signal box built by the Midland Railway in 1899 and restored in 1992; also traditional telegraph post

The Armathwaite signal box was built by the Midland Railway and placed in service on 16 July 1899. It was equipped with a 16-lever tumbler frame. The box was decommissioned on 15 January 1983. During 1992 it was restored by the Friends of the Settle to Carlisle Line and furnished with original Midland Railway block instruments and painted in original colours. It can be visited on Sundays by prior arrangement.[7]

Notes

  1. The significant decrease in passenger numbers was due to a landslip at Eden Brows, which saw the line closed between Appleby (later Armathwaite) and Carlisle from February 2016 to March 2017.

References

  1. "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "The Settle - Carlisle Railway". Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. Armathwaite Station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 21 December 2016
  4. Table 42 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  5. "S&C rail services run to Armathwaite"Rail Magazine 28 June 2016; Retrieved 30 June 2016
  6. "£23m landslip repair set to reopen Settle-Carlisle railway line in March 2017"Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 7 July 2016
  7. Harvey, Mark (14 March 2013). "Armathwaite station signalbox". Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line. Retrieved 10 May 2019.

Sources

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Lazonby and Kirkoswald   Northern Trains
Settle and Carlisle Line
  Carlisle
  Historical railways  
Lazonby and Kirkoswald   Midland Railway
Settle and Carlisle Line
  Cotehill
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