Giggleswick railway station

Giggleswick
Location
Place	Giggleswick
Local authority	Craven
Coordinates	54°03′42″N 2°18′10″W / 54.061800°N 2.302760°WCoordinates: 54°03′42″N 2°18′10″W / 54.061800°N 2.302760°W
Grid reference	SD802629
Operations
Station code	GIG
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	11,120
2011/12	11,596
2012/13	12,158
2013/14	12,082
2014/15	12,944
History
Original company	North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1 August 1849	Opened as Settle
1 May 1876	Renamed Settle Old
1 November 1877	Renamed Giggleswick
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Giggleswick from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Giggleswick railway station serves the village of Giggleswick and the town of Settle in North Yorkshire, England. The station is 41 ¹⁄₄ miles (66 km) north-west of Leeds on the Leeds to Morecambe Line towards Lancaster and Morecambe. It is unstaffed and operated by Northern, who provide all passenger train services.

History

Opened by the "little" North Western Railway in 1849, the station was originally known as "Settle", as it was the first station to serve the town, although situated some distance west of its centre. When the Settle-Carlisle Railway opened on 1 May 1876, the name was changed to "Settle Old" to distinguish it from Settle New on the line a mile to the east; Settle Old became "Giggleswick" on 1 November 1877.^[1][2]

The station did have more substantial buildings in the past, along with a goods yard, water tower & signal box. These were all demolished/removed after the station closed to goods traffic & was downgraded to unmanned halt status in 1970.

Facilities

The only buildings now provided here are standard waiting shelters. The two platforms are of differing construction - the westbound is wooden, whilst the eastbound equivalent is stone/concrete.^[3] They are linked by a barrow crossing, so are both DDA-compliant (though the National Rail Enquiries service and Northern recommend that disabled passengers only use this with assistance).^[4] Train running information provision is limited to information posters and a telephone link to the signal box at Settle Junction. Tickets can only be bought on the train, as no vending facilities are offered.

Service

Monday to Saturdays, five trains a day head from Giggleswick southbound to Skipton and Leeds and westbound to Lancaster. All but the first westbound service of the day continue to Morecambe and there is a single through train to & from Heysham Port to connect with the sailing to the Isle of Man.^[5]

Four trains run each way on Sundays throughout the year since the May 2011 timetable change (an improvement on the former twice-daily winter frequency).

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 208, 102. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
2. Binns, D. (1982). The Scenic Settle & Carlisle Railway. Skipton: Wyvern Publications. p. 19. ISBN 0-907941-02-8.
3. Giggleswick Station Jamieson, Andy Geograph.org; Retrieved 22 November 2016
4. Giggleswick Station Information Northern Railway Stations Pages; Retrieved 25 November 2016]
5. GB National Rail Timetable May-December 2016 Edition, Table 42

External links

• A video of the station added
• Photo of the station in 1968