Armathwaite railway station

Armathwaite
The Citadel Express stopped at Armathwaite for photographs
Location
Place	Armathwaite
Local authority	Eden
Coordinates	54°48′32″N 2°46′19″W / 54.809°N 2.772°WCoordinates: 54°48′32″N 2°46′19″W / 54.809°N 2.772°W
Grid reference	NY504463
Operations
Station code	AWT
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	9,684
2011/12	9,556
2012/13	9,194
2013/14	8,130
2014/15	7,786
History
1 May 1876	opened
May 1970	closed
July 1986	reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Armathwaite from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Armathwaite railway station is a railway station which serves the village of Armathwaite in Cumbria, England. The station is managed by Northern, who operate all trains serving it. 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] It became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station 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. Timetable information posters and a telephone link 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).

Services

Leeds-bound passenger waiting room

Six trains each way serve the station Mondays to Saturdays, with three trains each way calling on Sundays (increasing to five during the summer months).^[2]

Services to Carlisle have been suspended since 9 February 2016 due to a landslip just north of the station at Eden Brows (near Low House level crossing), which has destabilised the embankment on the eastern side of the railway where it passes through the Eden Gorge. An emergency timetable is in operation, with trains from Leeds now terminating/starting here and a rail replacement bus link taking passengers forward to Carlisle.^[3] This will continue until March 2017, when the £23 million project to repair the embankment & reinstate the trackbed is due to be completed by Network Rail.^[4] Whilst the repairs are in progress, only the northbound platform & line is in use.

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.^[5] It can be visited on Sundays by prior arrangement.

Notes

1. "Notes by the Way.". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
2. GB National Rail Timetable May 2016 Edition, Table 42
3. "S&C rail services run to Armathwaite"Rail Magazine 28 June 2016; Retrieved 30 June 2016
4. "£23m landslip repair set to reopen Settle-Carlisle railway line in March 2017"Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 7 July 2016
5. Stations - Armathwaite Settle - Carlisle Railway; Retrieved 24 November 2016

References

• 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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Armathwaite railway station from National Rail
• Station on navigable O.S. map