Kirkby Stephenrailway station serves the town of Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and is operated byNorthern who provide all passenger train services. It is south of Carlisle on the Settle-Carlisle Line. The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders. The station is more than from the town 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'sStainmore 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. 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 inMay 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. The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011, which includes a cafe and exhibition of items related to the Settle and Carlisle railway. Platform 2 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 The old goods shed to the south is now in private commercial use, goods facilities having been withdrawn here in 1964.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, along with a footbridge. No ticket machine is present, so passengers must buy in advance or from the conductor on the train. Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road toKendal.
Services
The station is served by eight trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to. A new early morningMonday to Friday service southbound began in May 2011. The first weekday northbound service now runs through from Leeds, rather than arriving from Carlisle and returning there after a reversal as before. There are six departures each way on Sundays throughout the year, including a through train to and from. DalesRail services between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle also call at the station on summer Sundays.
