Ulverston is a railway station on the Furness Line, which runs between and . The station, situated north-east of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few mi ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

. It is owned by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

History

The Furness Railway's line from and was the first railway to serve the town, being completed on 7 June 1854. Three years later the

Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway The Ulverstone 'sic''and Lancaster Railway Company was short-lived as a business but the line that it built is still in daily use. The line runs from Lindal-in-Furness to Carnforth railway station, Carnforth where it joins what was then the La ...

opened the line southwards to

Carnforth Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 reco ...

via Arnside and built a new through station on the current site, which opened on 1 September 1857, leaving the old FR terminus to be used as a goods depot. The Furness Railway then took over the Ulverstone and Lancaster company in 1862. The current buildings are architecturally noteworthy and date from 1873, when they were rebuilt as befitting one of the main stations of the Furness Railway. The clock tower and glass awnings and supporting decorative ironwork, now extensively restored and repainted, are particularly fine. The passenger waiting room retains many period features. The unusual platform layout (where the northbound line has a face on both sides) is a legacy of the station's former role as the interchange for the branch line to

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

, which diverged from the main line at ''Plumpton Junction'' a few miles to the south before heading north-eastwards through

Greenodd Greenodd is a village in the Furness area of the county of Cumbria, England, but within the historical county of Lancashire. For local government purposes the village is also within the area of South Lakeland District. It is located 3 miles (5& ...

and

Haverthwaite Haverthwaite is a small village and civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is also within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park. It is located several miles east of Ulverston and is near the southern end of Winde ...

, to its terminus at

on the southern shore of

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

. The

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

allowed easy

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the Uni ...

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 The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

. The line's northern end was subsequently reopened on 2 May 1973, as the

Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) is a heritage railway in Cumbria, England. Location The L&HR runs from Haverthwaite at the southern end of the line via Newby Bridge to Lakeside at the southern end of Windermere. Some services are ...

. However, the remainder was lifted in the early 1970s, and the trackbed used for improvements to the A590 road (over which passengers must continue their journey if heading to Lakeside today).

Facilities

The station is fully staffed throughout the week (except in the late evening); 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.Ulverston Station Information
''National Rail Enquiries''; Retrieved 25 November 2016 In 2007 new digital information screens were installed allowing passengers to see the status and timing of their train. Help points and an automated PA 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 (with some peak period extras) GB eNRT May 2019 Edition, Table 82). A few through trains each day beyond Barrow to Carlisle via Whitehaven and one to

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furne ...

(connections for Cumbrian Coast stations are available at Barrow at other times). Southbound, a number of services continue through to Preston and Manchester Airport. A similar service operates on Sundays, with trains to Carlisle now running (since the summer 2018 timetable change – the first time such trains have operated since 1976).

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Ulverston Railway stations in Cumbria DfT Category E stations Former Furness Railway stations Former Ulverston and Lancaster Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Northern franchise railway stations Clock towers in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Cumbria Grade II listed railway stations 1857 establishments in England