The Furness Railway's line from Barrow & Dalton-in-Furness was the first railway to serve the town, being completed on 7 June 1854. Three years later the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway opened the line southwards to Carnforth via Arnside and built a new through station on the current site, which opened on 26 August 1857, leaving the old FR terminus to be used as a goods depot. The Furness Railway then took over the Ulverston & Lancaster company in 1862. The unusual platform layout is a legacy of the station's former role as the interchange for the branch line to Lakeside, which diverged from the main line at Plumpton Junction a few miles to the south before heading north-eastwards through Greenodd & Haverthwaite, to its terminus at Lakeside on the southern shore of Windermere. The island platform allowed easy cross-platform interchange for those passengers travelling from the south changing onto the connecting service to Lakeside whilst those wishing to exit the station could do so by alighting on the opposite side platform. Today only platforms one and three are used. The branch opened on 1 June 1869 and was well-patronised from the outset in the summer months by tourists, who could make a convenient transfer to the Windermere steamboats at Lakeside. The line was much quieter in winter though and year-round services ended in the autumn of 1938 - passenger trains thereafter running only during the summer. This continued until 6 September 1965, when the line fell victim to the Beeching Axe. Its northern end was subsequently reopened on 2 May 1973> as the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway but the remainder was lifted in the early seventies and the trackbed used for improvements to the A590 road.
Facilities
The station is fully staffed throughout the week ; the booking office and waiting room is located in the main building on platform 1 and a ticket machine is also available in this building. In 2007 new digital information screens were installed allowing passengers to see the status and timing of their train. These screens spent most of the New Year and Christmas period of 2007 and 2008 showing a Christmas message. These signs showed these messages until at least mid February 2008 but are now fully operational. Help points and an automated P.A system are also provided. The platforms are linked by a subway, but there is no step-free access to either platform.
Services
There is normally one train per hour in each direction to Barrow and Lancaster on Monday to Saturday daytimes. A few through trains each day beyond Barrow to Carlisle via Whitehaven and one to Millom. Southbound, a number of services continue through to Preston and Manchester Airport. A similar service operates on Sundays, with through trains to Carlisle now running.
