Kirkby Stephen railway station

Kirkby Stephen
General information
Location	Kirkby Stephen, Eden England
Coordinates	54°27′18″N 2°22′07″W / 54.4549076°N 2.3687030°W / 54.4549076; -2.3687030
Grid reference	NY762066
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	KSW
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
1 May 1876	Opened as Kirkby Stephen
1 October 1900	Renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale
8 June 1953	Renamed Kirkby Stephen West
6 May 1968	Renamed Kirkby Stephen
4 May 1970	Closed
14 July 1986	Reopened
Passengers
2018/19	27,654
2019/20	30,912
2020/21	5,572
2021/22	25,758
2022/23	29,888
Services
Preceding station Northern Following station Garsdale towards Leeds via Settle Settle and Carlisle Line Appleby towards Carlisle
Location Kirkby Stephen Location in Eden, Cumbria Show map of the former Eden District Kirkby Stephen Location in Cumbria, England Show map of Cumbria
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Kirkby Stephen is a railway station in Eden in Cumbria, England, on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds via Settle. The station is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the market town of Kirkby Stephen, just within the civil parish of Wharton, and also serves the nearby villages of Newbiggin-on-Lune and Ravenstonedale. It lies 41 miles 35 chains (66.7 km) south of Carlisle, and is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders,^[1] and opened to traffic in May 1876.^[2]

The station is more than 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) from the town (and over 150 feet (46 m) above it) at Midland Hill, just within the civil parish of Wharton. It was opened as Kirkby Stephen, but it was renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale in 1900, and then Kirkby Stephen West in 1953, to avoid confusion with the older Kirkby Stephen, later known as Kirkby Stephen East, station in the town, on the North Eastern Railway's Stainmore and Eden Valley lines. Its remote location was necessitated by the Midland Railway's desire to keep gradients on the line to no greater than 1 in 100 for fast running.^[3] Had it been any closer to the town, the climb up to the summit of the line at Ais Gill would have exceeded this limit considerably. The West station reverted to the name Kirkby Stephen in 1968, but was closed (along with all other stations on the line except Settle and Appleby) in May 1970. It was reopened by British Rail in July 1986.

The station is leased by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust, which comprehensively restored it in 2009.^[4] The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011,^[5] which includes a cafe and exhibition of items related to the Settle and Carlisle railway. Platform 2 (northbound) has a stone shelter. The old goods shed to the south is now in private commercial use, goods facilities having been withdrawn here in 1964.

Step-free access to both platforms is available (ramps to platform 2 from the road below), along with a footbridge (erected in the mid-1990s after becoming redundant at its original location at Guiseley).^[6] No ticket machine is present, so passengers must buy in advance or from the conductor on the train (though operator Northern is in the process of installing one and also digital information screens as part of a rolling station upgrade programme on the route).^[7] Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road to Kendal.^[3]

Northern Trains Route 7
v t e
Settle & Carlisle & Bentham lines
Carlisle Armathwaite Lazonby & 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

The station is served by eight trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds.^[8] A new early morning Monday to Friday service southbound began in May 2011. The first weekday northbound service now runs through from Leeds, rather than arriving from Carlisle and returning there after a reversal as before.

There are six departures each way on Sundays throughout the year, including a through train to and from Nottingham. DalesRail services between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle used to call at the station on summer Sundays, but this service did not run in 2023. A replacement Saturday service from Rochdale via Manchester Victoria marketed as the "Yorkshire Dales Explorer" is due to operate from the start of the summer 2024 timetable. However, this will terminate/start at Ribblehead further to the south and passengers will need to change there or at Settle to access it.

• Media related to Kirkby Stephen railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Kirkby Stephen railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Garsdale		Northern Trains Settle and Carlisle Line		Appleby
	Historical railways
Garsdale		Midland Railway Settle and Carlisle Line		Crosby Garrett