Bentham railway station

Bentham National Rail
Bentham station
Location
Place High Bentham
Local authority Craven
Coordinates 54°06′56″N 2°30′38″W / 54.1155°N 2.5105°W / 54.1155; -2.5105Coordinates: 54°06′56″N 2°30′38″W / 54.1155°N 2.5105°W / 54.1155; -2.5105
Grid reference SD667689
Operations
Station code BEN
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*
2012/13 Decrease 24,604
2013/14 Decrease 24,094
2014/15 Decrease 22,832
2015/16 Decrease 22,578
2016/17 Increase 23,630
History
Original company "Little" North Western Railway
Pre-grouping Midland Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1 June 1850 Opened as Bentham[1]
1 November 1851 Renamed Bentham High[1]
1 May 1876 Renamed Bentham[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bentham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Bentham railway station in 1962

Bentham railway station serves the small town of High Bentham in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Leeds to Morecambe Line, between Wennington and Clapham, 19 miles (31 km) east of Lancaster. It is the nearest station to Ingleton, North Yorkshire.

History

The station was opened on 1 June 1850 by the "little" North Western Railway, later taken over by the Midland Railway.[2] During part of the 19th century, it was known as Bentham High[3] as the neighbouring settlement of Low Bentham also had its own station (although this only lasted for three years, being closed to passenger traffic in 1853).

The station building (built in 1955/56 after the original Midland structure was demolished by British Railways) is now privately owned,[4] the station having been reduced to unstaffed halt status in October 1970.[5] It has had its own community volunteer support group (The Friends of Bentham Station) since September 2011, which is based in the aforementioned building on the eastbound platform and has support from various local organisations (such as the route's Rail User Group, Craven District Council & the Leeds-Lancaster-Morecambe Line Community Rail Partnership).

Facilities

Timetable posters and digital information screens on both platforms provide train running information.

Services

All services are operated by Northern. There are seven services each way on weekdays and Saturdays. Westbound, trains run to Wennington, Carnforth, Lancaster and Morecambe (certain trains only), whilst trains in the other direction run to Clapham, Giggleswick, Skipton and Leeds.[6] Connections for Bradford Forster Square are available at Shipley, although through trains do operate occasionally if the line to Leeds is closed for engineering work.

On Sundays there are now five services in each direction throughout the year. The alterations to give better journey opportunities for commuters to both Leeds and Lancaster (and additional Sunday services) were implemented at the May 2018 timetable change[7]. Further station improvements are also planned, such as the installation of ticket machines, video help points and improved lighting.[8] The removal of "Pacer" DMUs from the route is also scheduled for 2019.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 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. 32. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  2. ↑ Bairstow, p. 96
  3. ↑ Dewick, map 24
  4. ↑ Bairstow, p. 9
  5. ↑ A Brief History of Bentham StationFriends of Bentham Station; Retrieved 4 December 2013
  6. ↑ GB eNRT May 2018 Edition, Table 42
  7. ↑ Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT
  8. ↑ "Wait over for new shelter at Giggleswick Railway Station" Tate, Lesley Craven Herald & Pioneer news article 14 December 2016; Retrieved 28 September 2017

References

  • Bairstow, M. (2000), The 'Little' North Western Railway, Martin Bairstow, Leeds, ISBN 1-871944-21-X
  • Dewick, T. (2002), Complete Atlas of Railway Station Names, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, ISBN 0-7110-2798-6
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Clapham   Northern
Leeds to Morecambe Line		   Wennington
  Historical railways  
Clapham   Midland Railway
"Little" North Western Railway		   Low Bentham


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