Carnforth railway station

Carnforth
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Location
Place	Carnforth
Local authority	Lancaster
Coordinates
Grid reference	SD496706
Operations
Station code	CNF
Managed by	First TransPennine Express
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	149,649
2005/06	157,240
2006/07	150,824
2007/08	174,644
2008/09	176,918
2009/10	179,602
2010/11	196,972
2011/12	191,306
- Interchange	9,920
2012/13	196,470
- Interchange	9,048
2013/14	206,950
- Interchange	8,529
2014/15	204,196
- Interchange	9,036
History
Original company	Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway
Pre-grouping	LNWR, Furness Railway and Midland Railway joint
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
22 September 1846	L&CR station opened as Carnforth-Yealand
February 1864	L&CR station renamed Carnforth
6 June 1857	U&LR station opened as Carnforth
2 August 1880	The two stations were replaced by a single station
May 1970	West Coast Main Line platforms closed
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Carnforth from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

File:Carnforth railway station in 1998.jpg

Carnforth railway station

The station clock

File:Barrow train arrives at Carnforth - geograph.org.uk - 295949.jpg

Barrow train arrives in 1971
Carnforth station, shortly before main line electrification.

Carnforth railway station serves the town of Carnforth in Lancashire, England. The building was designed by architect William Tite and was used as a location in the 1945 film Brief Encounter. It is now operated by TransPennine Express.

History

Carnforth railway station was opened in 1846 by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&CR). It originally had a single platform and was a second-class station. It became a junction in 1857 when the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway arrived from the northwest, the station being adopted as its southern terminus. The Furness Railway took over the U&LR in 1862 and became the second major company operating to Carnforth.

The station was enlarged during the 1870s and in 1880 was able to receive trains from the Midland Railway following the commissioning of a new south-to-east direct curve to the Furness and Midland Joint Railway (creating a triangular junction in the process). Meanwhile, the L&CR had been taken over by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and Carnforth was operated under joint management by Furness, Midland and LNWR. Station personnel wore a uniform with the initials CJS for Carnforth: Joint Station.

A major rebuilding project, including a new 300 yard platform (currently used by all northbound services), took place in 1938 with government funding - this brought the total number of platforms in use at the station to six. In 1944, the Government approved the rebuilding of Carnforth MPD into a major regional railway depot.

Brief Encounter was partly filmed there in February 1945. The station clock became a powerful icon through repeated use in the film.

The West Coast Main Line platforms were closed in May 1970, following the withdrawal of local stopping passenger services between Lancaster and Carlisle two years earlier. The platform walls facing the fast lines were demolished, cut back and fenced off a few years later prior to the commissioning of 25 kV overhead electrification in 1974. This made Carnforth a branch line station, even though it is situated on the main line, as WCML trains cannot now call. In 2011, Network Rail rejected suggestions to reopen the mainline platforms, stating that there would be too few passengers to justify slowing down mainline trains. Only the former platforms 4 & 5 (now renumbered 1 & 2) remain in use, as the old 'Midland bay' that once handled trains on the Joint line to Skipton & Leeds is also disused and no longer rail-connected.

Responsibility for the signalling at the station is divided between Preston PSB (main line) and the one surviving manual ex-Furness Railway signal box at Carnforth Station Junction, sited just past the physical junction between the Barrow & Leeds lines. This has acted as the 'fringe' box to the PSB since the main line was resignalled in 1972/3. Two other boxes (F&M Junction & East Junction) were closed & demolished when the northern side of the triangle (avoiding the station) was decommissioned in 1998.

After lying in a semi-derelict state for many years, the station buildings were refurbished between 2000 & 2003 and returned to commercial use.

There is an award winning Heritage Centre and the "Brief Encounter" Refreshment Room, a number of shops and a travel/ticket office. The outer half of the now non-operational up main (southbound) platform is still in use as the access route to the subway and hence the active platforms & tea room.

Operators

Carnforth is served by two train operators.

• First TransPennine Express operates regional express services from Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness via the Furness Line (four each way plus additional connecting services from Lancaster or Preston) using Class 185 Desiro DMUs.
• Northern Rail operates local services along the Furness Line to Barrow-in-Furness (two-hourly) and the Leeds to Morecambe Line to Skipton and Leeds (five trains per day each way Mon-Sat, four on Sundays). Some services continue beyond Barrow to Sellafield or Carlisle via the Cumbrian Coast Line. Northern Rail services are operated using Class 153 and 156 diesel multiple-unit trains (on the Furness line) and Class 142, 144 and 150 units (Leeds line); very occasionally Class 158 sets also appear on trains from Leeds.

For the next Northern Rail franchise (starting in April 2016 and running to March 2025), all Furness Line services will be transferred to a single operator (Arriva Rail North Ltd), with TransPennine Express services ceasing (management of the stations on the route, including Carnforth, will also transfer to Arriva as part of the franchise changeover). The timetable will be improved in overall frequency (from 18-20 trains per day to 21 each way) and more through trains to and from Manchester Airport (from four to eight, marketed under the 'Northern Connect' brand). There will also be two additional weekday and one extra Sunday service on the Leeds route.

Carnforth is also the headquarters of the West Coast Railway Company.

See also

• Listed buildings in Carnforth

External links

• Train times and station information for Carnforth railway station from National Rail
• An extensive website about Carnforth Railway Station

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Lancaster		First TransPennine Express TransPennine North West		Silverdale
Bare Lane		First TransPennine Express Barrow to Windermere		Silverdale
Lancaster		Northern Rail Furness Line		Silverdale
Lancaster		Northern Rail Leeds to Morecambe Line		Wennington
	Historical railways
Bolton-le-Sands		Lancaster and Carlisle Railway		Burton and Holme
Bolton-le-Sands Line open, station closed		Furness Railway Ulverston and Lancaster Railway		Silverdale Line and station open
Bolton-le-Sands		Furness and Midland Joint Railway		Borwick