Bentham is a railway station on the Bentham Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated east of Lancaster, serves the town of

High Bentham Bentham is a civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, with a population of 3,027 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the town of High Bentham, occasionally known as Higher Bentham or just Bentham, and the older ...

and surrounding settlements in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

. 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 len ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...

History

The station was opened as ''Bentham'' on 1 June 1850 by the

"Little" North Western Railway The North Western Railway (NWR) was an early British railway company in the north-west of England. It was commonly known as the "Little" North Western Railway, to distinguish it from the larger London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The NWR w ...

, later taken over by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

. On 1 November 1851, the station was renamed ''Bentham High'', to avoid confusion with the nearby station at Low Bentham. This station was short-lived, and closed on 4 August 1853. The station was provided with various facilities by the Midland Railway, including a signal box, water tower and column, goods shed and several sidings on the northern side of the line. These had all been removed by the early 1970s, with the signal box being the last to go in 1972. Bentham Station 1790691

The station building, which was constructed in the mid-1950s, after the original Midland structure was demolished by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...

, is now privately owned. The station was reduced to unstaffed halt status in October 1970. The station has had its own community volunteer support group, ''The Friends of Bentham Station,'' since September 2011. The group is based in the aforementioned building on the eastbound platform and has support from various local organisations, including the route's Rail User Group, Craven District Council and the Leeds, Lancaster and Morecambe Line Community Rail Partnership.

Stationmasters

*B. Jenkinson until 1860 *W.F. Jacques 1861 - 1863 *J. Bond from 1863 *John Bell ca. 1869 *Benjamin Ash ca. 1871 - 1883 *Joseph Shaw 1883 - 1888 (In 1887 he was knocked down by a train at the station which severed his arm) *E. Baldwin 1888 - 1890 *Charles Larkin 1890 - ca. 1911 (formerly station master at Collingham) *James Roadley 1914 - 1924 (afterwards station master at Appleby) *Augustine Angus from 1924 (formerly station master at Stretton) *W. Fox

Facilities

Timetable posters and digital information screens on both platforms provide train running information, whilst there are waiting shelters on each side. The stone shelter on the westbound platform was constructed by the Midland Railway, whereas its counterpart on the opposite platform is much more modern in comparison.

Services

There are eight departures each way (increased from seven the start of the May 2019 timetable). Westbound, trains run to and (five trains only), whilst trains in the other direction run to and . Connections for are available at Shipley, although through trains do operate occasionally if the line to Leeds is closed for engineering work. On Sundays there are now five services in each direction throughout the year (all running to/from Morecambe since the winter 2019 timetable update). The alterations to give better journey opportunities for commuters to both Leeds and Lancaster (and additional Sunday services) were implemented at the May 2018 timetable change. Further station improvements are also planned, such as the installation of ticket machines, video help points and improved lighting."Wait over for new shelter at Giggleswick Railway Station"
Tate, Lesley ''Craven Herald & Pioneer'' news article 14 December 2016; Retrieved 28 September 2017

References

Sources

* Bairstow, M. (2000), ''The 'Little' North Western Railway'', Martin Bairstow, Leeds, *Dewick, T. (2002), ''Complete Atlas of Railway Station Names'', Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham,

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Craven District DfT Category F2 stations Railway stations in North Yorkshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850 Northern franchise railway stations