Appleby railway station

Appleby is a railway station on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds via Settle. The station, situated 30 miles 60 chains (49.5 km) south-east of Carlisle, serves the market town of Appleby-in-Westmorland, Eden in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Appleby
National Rail
General information
LocationAppleby-in-Westmorland, Eden
England
Coordinates54°34′49″N 2°29′12″W
Grid referenceNY686206
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeAPP
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyMidland Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
1 May 1876Opened as Appleby
1 September 1952Renamed Appleby West
6 May 1968Renamed Appleby
Passengers
2017/18Decrease 60,254
2018/19Decrease 57,526
2019/20Increase 60,310
2020/21Decrease 11,232
2021/22Increase 47,476
Services
Preceding station Northern Following station
Kirkby Stephen
towards Leeds via Settle
Settle and Carlisle Line Langwathby
towards Carlisle
Listed Building – Grade II
FeatureOriginal Midland Railway station building
Designated14 May 1990
Reference no.1311476[1]
Location
Appleby is located in the former Eden District
Appleby
Appleby
Location in Eden, Cumbria
Appleby is located in Cumbria
Appleby
Appleby
Location in Cumbria, England
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station was formerly known as Appleby West, with the older Appleby East station located nearby on the Eden Valley Railway. The buildings of Appleby East still survive.

History

A 1903 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (right) railways in the vicinity of Appleby. Present station is shown as MIDLAND STA.

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[2] Opened by the Midland Railway at the same time as the line itself in May 1876, it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. It was one of only two stations on the Settle-Carlisle line to remain open (Settle being the other) following the withdrawal of local stopping trains in May 1970.

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail.

Mile post at Appleby

The line through the station is often used as a diversionary route for the West Coast Main Line for both passenger and freight trains. A pre-nationalisation milepost on the southbound platform marks the station's location 277+14 miles (446.2 km) miles from London (St Pancras) on the Midland Railway route via Leicester, Derby, Sheffield and Leeds.

Stationmasters

  • E. Williamson 1876 - 1877[3]
  • R. Kirkham 1877 - 1879[3]
  • J.G. Sefton 1879 - 1880[3]
  • W. Scott 1880[3] - 1886[4]
  • W. Foster 1886 - 1889[4]
  • Thomas Moss 1889 - 1892[4] (formerly station master at Armathwaite, afterwards station master at Kirkby Stephen)
  • William George Nuttall 1892[4] - 1924[5] (formerly station master at Kirkby Stephen)
  • James Roadley 1924[6] - 1930 (formerly station master at Bentham)
  • Richard W. Powell 1931[7] - 1936 (formerly station master at Lazonby, also station master at Ormside and Long Marton)
  • Edward H. Garner 1936[8] - 1943 (formerly station master of Spring Vale, Darwen, afterwards station master at Mansfield)
  • A. Fisher from 1943[9] (formerly station master at Embsay and Bolton Abbey)

Facilities

The main brick-built station building with booking office and waiting room is located on the northbound platform. This is the original building of 1876. A smaller brick-built waiting room, also of 1876, is located on the southbound platform. A period wrought iron lattice footbridge links the two platforms. Step-free access to both is also available (via the road underbridge & ramps to the southbound platform, direct from the station entrance for northbound travellers).[10] The booking office is open for 9 hours, six days per week (not Sundays) - tickets can be purchased from a ticket vending machine when the office is closed. Train running times are available via telephone and timetable posters, with digital information screens also in the process of being commissioned here (and at other stations on the line).

To the north are a number of engineers sidings (which once formed the connection to the Eden Valley branch to Warcop, Kirkby Stephen East and Barnard Castle) and an active signal box (which was repaired and refurbished in the autumn of 2019 to fix issues with rotten timbers and box foundations).

The main station building is Grade II listed;[1] the waiting room on the northbound platform and the station's footbridge are separately Grade II listed. The footbridge was moved to Appleby West from Mansfield Station in 1901.[11]

Services

Northern Trains
Route 7
Bentham Line and
Settle and Carlisle Line
Carlisle Parking Bicycle facilities Handicapped/disabled access
Armathwaite Parking
Lazonby & Kirkoswald
Langwathby Parking
Appleby Parking
Kirkby Stephen Parking
Garsdale Parking
Dent Parking
Ribblehead Parking Bicycle facilities
Horton-in-Ribblesdale Parking Bicycle facilities
Settle Parking Bicycle facilities
Heysham Port ferry/water interchange
Morecambe Parking Bicycle facilities
Bare Lane Parking
Lancaster Parking Bicycle facilities Handicapped/disabled access
Carnforth Parking
Wennington Parking
Bentham Parking Bicycle facilities
Clapham Parking Bicycle facilities
Giggleswick Parking Bicycle facilities
Long Preston Parking Bicycle facilities
Hellifield Parking
Gargrave
Skipton Parking Bicycle facilities Handicapped/disabled access
Keighley Parking Bicycle facilities Heritage railway
Bingley Parking Bicycle facilities
Shipley Parking Bicycle facilities
Leeds Parking Bicycle facilities Handicapped/disabled access

There is generally a service every two hours daily northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds[12] - eight each way in total since the May 2018 timetable change, a modest improvement on the former schedule of seven northbound & six southbound trains on weekdays, plus an extra SX early morning departure to Kirkby Stephen only and an extra morning departure for Leeds on Saturdays that applied prior to May 2011.

Six services each way call on Sundays (including one service to and from Nottingham introduced at the December 2012 timetable change, a second from Nottingham and returning to Sheffield was added in December 2018 but withdrawn in May 2019). The summer "DalesRail" service from Blackpool via Preston that formerly stopped here is not running in 2023. Northern hope to restore the service at a later date.

Accidents and incidents

  • Well-known railway photographer and enthusiast Bishop Eric Treacy died at Appleby railway station on 13 May 1978 after suffering a heart attack whilst waiting to photograph Evening Star, which was due to pass through the station on a rail tour. A plaque located on the down platform commemorates the spot.[13]
  • Services had been disrupted from 28 January 2016, due to a landslip at Eden Brows (north of Armathwaite) which destabilised the embankment on the eastern side of the railway, where it passes through the Eden Gorge. An emergency timetable was put into operation, with trains from the south terminating or starting at Appleby, and buses running between Appleby and Carlisle.[14] Since 27 June 2016 some rail services were restored further north to Armathwaite, with bus links to and from Carlisle, Penrith, Appleby and Armathwaite continuing to supplement the train service.[15] Repair works were due to continue until the end of March 2017.[16] These were completed on schedule, with the line reopening through to Carlisle on 31 March 2017.

Steam Specials

There is a water tank with water crane at the south end of platform 2 which is used to supply steam locomotives which stop with southbound trains during special excursions on the Settle and Carlisle line.

See also

Notes

    References

    1. Historic England. "Appleby Station, Main Building (1311476)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
    2. "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 via British Newspaper Archive.
    3. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 739. 1871. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
    4. "1881-1898 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 43. 1881. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
    5. "Retirement of Mr. W.G. Nuttall". Penrith Observer. England. 2 September 1924. Retrieved 13 March 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
    6. "Personal". Penrith Observer. England. 9 September 1924. Retrieved 13 March 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
    7. "Personal". Penrith Observer. England. 31 March 1931. Retrieved 13 March 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
    8. "Personal". Penrith Observer. England. 19 May 1936. Retrieved 13 March 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
    9. "New Appleby Stationmaster". Penrith Observer. England. 11 May 1943. Retrieved 13 March 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
    10. Appleby station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 5 December 2016
    11. Appleby Station Co-Curate; Retrieved 1 October 2018
    12. GB National Rail Timetable May 2023 Edition, Table 35 (Network Rail)
    13. The Settle and Carlisle line ISBN 978-1-85895-263-5
    14. "Latest Network Rail landslip disruption closes the Settle-Carlisle line". Rail.co.uk. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
    15. "Trains run Leeds to/from Armathwaite". The Settle - Carlisle Railway. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
    16. "Landslip-hit Settle-to-Carlisle line section shut until 2017"BBC News; Retrieved 7 July 2016

    Sources

    Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
    Kirkby Stephen   Northern Trains
    Settle and Carlisle Line
      Langwathby
      Historical railways  
    Ormside   Midland Railway
    Settle and Carlisle Line
      Long Marton
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