Nethertown railway station

The station was opened on 19 July 1849 by the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway when it opened the line between Whitehaven and Ravenglass.[1]

In 1914 at the start of World War I the passing loop was expanded to cater for the increased length of trains and to help with the extended length of trains brought about by World War I. In May 1916 the shunting neck was extended and an additional 90 yards of sidings were provided.

The station was host to six LMS caravans from 1937 to 1939.[2]

The station was a passing loop until the 1970s when it was singled due to fall-off in traffic and train frequency. It was particularly busy with passenger traffic in the 1940-50s when it served the Nethertown military camp for training anti-aircraft gunners, which was taken over after the war for the construction workers building the Sellafield Nuclear plant.

As of August 2019, the only facility is a passenger shelter on the single platform, but up until the early 1970s, the station had more substantial buildings as well the aforementioned signal box.[3]

The station is directly on the coast in a spectacular and remote position overlooking the Irish sea from a small cliff. 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....Nethertown station seems suspended between the cliff face and the sands".[4] There is a vehicle track from the public highway and a footpath shortcut to the village.

On the seaward side can be seen the remains of the sea-filled swimming pool built by the contractors from the camp. A foot level crossing connects the platform to the station approach track, and though this offers step-free access, the platform is low. A ramp has been installed to allow easier access on and off the train and the steps which were previously mounted on the platform have been removed.[5] Timetable posters are available to offer train running information and there are electric lights during operating hours.

Route 6: Cumbrian Coast Line and Windermere Line
Carlisle Dalston (Cumbria) Wigton Aspatria Maryport Flimby Workington Harrington Parton Whitehaven Corkickle St. Bees Nethertown Braystones Sellafield Seascale Drigg Ravenglass for Eskdale Bootle Silecroft Millom Green Road Foxfield Kirkby-in-Furness Askam Barrow-in-Furness Roose Dalton Ulverston Cark and Cartmel Kents Bank Grange-over-Sands Arnside Silverdale Carnforth Windermere Staveley Burneside Kendal Oxenholme Lake District Lancaster Preston Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Airport
Bootle, Braystones, Drigg, Flimby, Green Road, Kirkby-in-Furness, Nethertown, Parton and Silecroft are request stops.

As of the 30 June 2019 timetable, five trains call northbound and six trains call southbound (on request) from Monday to Friday, with one additional departure each way on Saturdays. The timetable states that some Saturday services do not treat the station as a request stop. There is no late evening service, but a limited Sunday service was introduced at the May 2018 timetable change;[6] the first to run over this section since 1976. Currently the Sunday service consists of 4 trains in each direction.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nethertown railway station.

• Train times and station information for Nethertown railway station from National Rail
• 100 Years of St Bees, Douglas Sim, 1995. ISBN 0-9526990-0-1

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
St Bees		Northern Cumbrian Coast Line		Braystones