Appleby Station

Appleby railway station is a Grade II listed railway station which serves the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, England. It is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services. The station is south east of Carlisle on the Settle-Carlisle Line.

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

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.

History

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

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 miles from London (St Pancras) on the Midland Railway route via Leicester, Derby, Sheffield and Leeds.

Facilities

The main brick-built station building with booking office and waiting room is located on the northbound platform. A smaller brick-built waiting room is located on the southbound platform. A period 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). Staffing is part-time, six days per week (not Sundays) - train running information is available by phone or timetable posters outside these times.

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

Services

There is generally a service every two hours daily northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds - 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) - the extra trains being the DalesRail service to/from & Preston & Blackpool North).

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. 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. Repair works were due to continue until the end of March 2017. These were completed on schedule, with the line reopening through to Carlisle on 31 March 2017.