Penrith railway station
Penrith North Lakes  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Penrith |
| Local authority | District of Eden |
| Coordinates | 54°39′43″N 2°45′29″W / 54.662°N 2.758°WCoordinates: 54°39′43″N 2°45′29″W / 54.662°N 2.758°W |
| Grid reference | NY511299 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | PNR |
| Managed by | Virgin Trains |
| Number of platforms | 3 |
| DfT category | D |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2009/10 |
 0.390 million |
| 2010/11 |
0.411 million |
| 2011/12 |
0.420 million |
| 2012/13 |
0.429 million |
| 2013/14 |
0.440 million |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Penrith North Lakes from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
| UK Railways portal | |
Penrith railway station (also known as Penrith North Lakes[1]) is located on the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom. It serves the town of Penrith, Cumbria, and is less than one mile from its centre. National Express coaches leave from the station's car park and there are bus links to Keswick, Workington, Appleby-in-Westmorland and Ullswater from here too.
Background
The station was built by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, and was opened on 17 December 1846.[2] Although the station is now relatively quiet at one time this was the terminus for the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway and the North Eastern Railway's Eden Valley branch which joined with the Stainmore line at Kirkby Stephen providing connections to the East Coast Main Line at Darlington. There was also in the mid-nineteenth century a plan to connect Penrith by rail to the lead mines at Caldbeck and eventually joining up with the Cumbrian Coast Line near Wigton. Passenger services to Kirkby Stephen and Darlington were withdrawn in 1962, whilst those to Cockermouth and Workington fell victim to the Beeching Axe four years later; the surviving portion of the C&KP to Keswick survived until March 1972.
The station currently lacks a cafe. An 1863 Ordnance Survey plan[3] shows refreshment facilities in the large room seen to the right on entering the building, but this is now used for storage.
The station was renamed from Penrith to Penrith for Ullswater in the early years of British Railways;[2] and the name reverted to Penrith on 6 May 1974.[2][4]
Up until August 2006 the station was probably unique in that although being a manned main line station it did not have electronic departure boards or TV screens depicting departures/arrivals but only a handwritten departure board in the waiting room/ticket office. It was also the last station in the UK where mail was collected by a moving train, the practice finally coming to an end in October 1971.[5]
The station is operated by Virgin Trains, who refer to the station as Penrith North Lakes.[1]
References
- 1 2 Virgin Trains - our routes and stations
- 1 2 3 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 183. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ↑ Ordnance Plan of the town of Penrith (10.56 feet to one mile), 1863, British Library shelfmark O.S.T.(11)
- ↑ Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Stations renamed by LMR". Railway Magazine (London: IPC Transport Press Ltd) 120 (879): 363. ISSN 0033-8923.
- ↑ The Travelling Post Office - History www.allanyeo.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-12-18
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Penrith railway station. |
- Train times and station information for Penrith railway station from National Rail
- Buses from the station
- Buses to the station
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxenholme Lake District or Lancaster or Preston |
Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line |
Carlisle | ||
| Lancaster or Oxenholme Lake District |
TransPennine Express TransPennine North West |
Carlisle | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | Eden Valley Railway | Clifton (Moor) | ||
| Blencow | Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway | Terminus | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Clifton & Lowther | London and North Western Railway Lancaster and Carlisle Railway |
Plumpton | ||
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