Oxenholme Lake District railway station

Oxenholme Lake District National Rail
Location
Place Oxenholme
Local authority District of South Lakeland
Coordinates 54°18′18″N 2°43′19″W / 54.305°N 2.722°W / 54.305; -2.722Coordinates: 54°18′18″N 2°43′19″W / 54.305°N 2.722°W / 54.305; -2.722
Grid reference SD531901
Operations
Station code OXN
Managed by Virgin Trains
Number of platforms 3
DfT category D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Decrease 0.421 million
2013/14 Increase 0.436 million
2014/15 Increase 0.489 million
– Interchange  Steady 0.245 million
2015/16 Increase 0.522 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.277 million
2016/17 Increase 0.571 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.292 million
History
Original company Lancaster and Carlisle Railway[1]
Pre-grouping London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
July 1847 Opened as Kendal Junction[1]
c. 1860 Renamed Oxenholme[1]
1988 Renamed Oxenholme The Lake District[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 Oxenholme Lake District from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Oxenholme Lake District railway station (often shortened to Oxenholme) is a railway station in Oxenholme, near Kendal, in Cumbria, England. The station is situated on the West Coast Main Line and is also the start of the Windermere Branch Line to Windermere. All platforms are electrified; however, platform 3 on the Windermere branch has limited capacity for longer trains. The station serves as a main line connection point for Kendal and Windermere and is managed by Virgin Trains.[2]

History

The station was constructed as part of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (which is now a section on the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow). Initially the railway was earmarked to go via Kendal. However, a 2.1 mi (3.4 km) tunnel would have had to have been built north of the town to accommodate this route. As it was deemed too expensive an option, a line running 1 mi (1.6 km) east of Kendal was adopted. The line between Lancaster and Oxenholme opened in September 1846. Trains from Lancaster passed through Oxenholme to a temporary terminus at Kendal. This ended when the line to Carlisle was completed in December 1847.

With the decision to avoid Kendal, the Kendal and Windermere Railway was promoted instead with Oxenholme becoming a junction station. The branch line would be between Oxenholme and its terminus at Windermere (although it actually is in Birthwaite about 0.75 mi (1.21 km) from the actual lake). It opened in April 1847.

The station's popularity with visitors to The Lakes was fictionalised by Arthur Ransome in the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, where it was renamed Strickland Junction.[3] In Pigeon Post Roger releases a homing pigeon there.

Incidents

On 10 February 1965 fugitive John Middleton, who was hiding in the waiting room, shot and killed Carlisle policeman Alex Archibald at the station, his colleague, George Russell, who was also shot, died a few hours later in hospital.[4]

On 27 May 2006 a 19-year-old man was fatally stabbed aboard a Glasgow-Paignton train as it was entering the station. A 22-year-old man was jailed for 21 years for the murder in November 2006.[5]

The Grayrigg rail crash happened on 23 February 2007 when a Virgin Pendolino train derailed shortly after it had left Oxenholme Lake District railway station; one person died and 22 others were injured in the crash.[6]

Facilities

The station is fully staffed, with the ticket office open all week (Monday - Saturday 05:45 - 19:00, Sunday 10:45 - 20:15). A self-service ticket machine is also available in the booking hall for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Waiting rooms are provided on both platforms, along with a variety of other amenities such as post box, coffee kiosk, cycle racks, toilets, shop and food/drink vending machines. Train running information is offered via automated announcements, digital display screens and customer help points. The subway linking the platforms and both entrances has inclined ramps and so is accessible for disabled passengers (though wheelchair users are advised to request assistance from station staff as the ramps are quite steep).[7]

Services

Most Virgin Trains services from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh call here to provide connections with the Windermere branch. There is normally a train at least every two hours to London (either direct or via Birmingham New Street) and every hour to Edinburgh or Glasgow. TransPennine Express services between Manchester Airport and Glasgow/Edinburgh also serve the station once per hour each way, as well as Northern services to and from Windermere. Most Windermere services start and terminate here, but some occasionally run through to Lancaster, Preston and Manchester Airport.[8] Oxenholme and the Windermere branch are signalled from Carlisle PSB.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  2. ↑ National Rail Enquiries (2 December 2007). "Station Facilities: Oxenholme Lake District (OXN)". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  3. ↑ Christina Hardyment Arthur Ransome and Capt. Flint's Trunk, Jonathan Cape 1984
  4. ↑ Deborah Kuiper (28 December 2007). "Hero PC dies". Hexham Courant. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  5. ↑ "Life sentence for train murder of student". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 11 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  6. ↑ "How Cumbria rail crash unfolded". BBC News. 24 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  7. ↑ Oxenholme station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  8. ↑ GB National Rail Timetable May 2017 Edition, Tables 65, 82 & 83 (Network Rail)
Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Lancaster   Virgin Trains
West Coast Main Line		   Penrith North Lakes or
Carlisle
Lancaster   TransPennine Express
TransPennine North West		  
Terminus   Northern
Windermere Branch Line		   Kendal
Lancaster    
Bare Lane
Limited Service		    
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