Nethertown railway station

Nethertown is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 39 miles (63 km) north-west of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the village of Nethertown in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Nethertown
General information
Location	Nethertown, Copeland England
Coordinates	54°27′22″N 3°33′56″W
Grid reference	NX985079
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	1
Tracks	1
Other information
Station code	NRT
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Furness Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
18 July 1849	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	516
2019/20	730
2020/21	254
2021/22	1,412
2022/23	960
Location Nethertown Location in Copeland, Cumbria Show map of the former Borough of Copeland Nethertown Location in Cumbria, England Show map of Cumbria
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Nethertown was the least-used station in Cumbria in 2020-21, with an estimated 254 passenger journeys made.

History

The Cumbrian Coast Line, heading north towards Whitehaven.

The station was opened on 19 July 1849 by the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway when it opened the line between Whitehaven and Ravenglass.^[1]

In 1914, the passing loop was expanded to cater for the increased length of trains due to World War I. In May 1916, the shunting neck was extended and an additional 90 yards (82 m) of sidings were provided.^{[citation needed]}

The station was host to six LMS caravans from 1937 to 1939.^[2] The station was particularly busy with passenger traffic in the 1940s–50s when it served the Nethertown military camp, which was training anti-aircraft gunners. After the war, it was reused for construction workers building the Sellafield Nuclear plant.

During the 1970s, the passing loop was removed due to a decrease in traffic and train frequency.

As of August 2019, the only facility at the station is a passenger shelter on the single platform, but up until the early 1970s, the station had more substantial buildings as well as a signal box.^[3]

Location

The station is directly on the coast in a spectacular and remote position overlooking the Irish Sea from a small cliff. Pearson's 1992 railway guide is moved to comment, "The tiny halts at Braystones and Nethertown are as remote as anything British Rail has to offer....Nethertown station seems suspended between the cliff face and the sands".^[4] There is a vehicle track from the public highway and a footpath shortcut to the village.

Since 30 March 2021, the station has been on England's Coast Path with the opening of the St Bees to Silecroft section of the long-distance path.^[5]

On the seaward side, the remains of the sea-filled swimming pool built by the contractors from the camp can be seen.^{[citation needed]}

A foot level crossing connects the platform to the station approach track, and though this offers step-free access, the platform is too low to allow level access from platform to the train. A Harrington hump has been installed to allow easier access on and off the train, the steps which were previously mounted on the platform have been removed.^[6] Timetable posters are available and there are electric lights during operating hours.

Services

Northern Trains Route 6
v t e
Cumbrian Coast, Furness & Windermere lines
Carlisle Dalston Wigton Aspatria Maryport Flimby Workington Harrington Parton Whitehaven Corkickle St Bees Nethertown Braystones Sellafield Seascale Drigg Ravenglass Bootle Silecroft Millom Green Road Foxfield Kirkby-in-Furness Askam Barrow-in-Furness Roose Dalton Ulverston Cark & Cartmel Kents Bank Grange-over-Sands Arnside Silverdale Carnforth Windermere Staveley Burneside Kendal Oxenholme Lake District Lancaster Preston Chorley Bolton Deansgate Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Airport
Braystones & Nethertown are request stops.

As of the 15 December 2019 timetable, five trains call in each direction (on request) from Monday to Friday, with one additional departure each way on Saturdays. The timetable stated briefly in 2019 that some Saturday services do not treat the station as a request stop, this reverted to all services being request in December 2019 and may have been a printing error as all local timetables had all trains as request only. There is no late evening service, but a limited Sunday service was introduced at the May 2018 timetable change;^[7] the first to run over this section since 1976. Currently the Sunday service consists of 4 trains in each direction.

References

1. Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 329. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
2. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 22. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
3. Danby Wiske (18 April 2010), Nethertown station c 1970, retrieved 17 January 2023
4. Pearson's Railway Rides, The Cumbrian Coast. J M Pearson & Son, Staffs, 1992.
5. "England Coast Path: Whitehaven to Silecroft". gov.uk. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
6. "National Rail Enquiries - Station facilities for Nethertown". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
7. Table 100 National Rail timetable, May 2019

Sources

• 100 Years of St Bees, Douglas Sim, 1995. ISBN 0-9526990-0-1

External links

• Cumbria portal

• Media related to Nethertown railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Nethertown railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
St Bees		Northern Trains Cumbrian Coast line		Braystones
	Historical railways
St Bees		Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway		Braystones