Kirkby Stephen railway station

Kirkby Stephen railway station serves the town of Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services. It is 41 ¹⁄₂ miles (67 km) south of Carlisle on the Settle-Carlisle Line.

Kirkby Stephen
Location
Place	Kirkby Stephen
Local authority	Eden
Grid reference	NY762066
Operations
Station code	KSW
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*
2014/15	29,768
2015/16	26,786
2016/17	19,962
2017/18	30,150
2018/19	27,654
History
1876	Opened
4 May 1970	Closed
16 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 Kirkby Stephen from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[1]

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 and was formerly known as Kirkby Stephen West because of the older Kirkby Stephen or 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.[2] 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 was closed (along with all other stations on the line except Settle and Appleby) in May 1970, but reopened by British Rail in July 1986.

The station is leased by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust, which comprehensively restored it in 2009.[3] The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011,[4] 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 The old goods shed to the south is now in private commercial use, goods facilities having been withdrawn here in 1964.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).[5] 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).[6] Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road to Kendal.[2]