Settle railway station

Settle railway station is a Grade II listed[1] station which serves the town of Settle in North Yorkshire, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services. It is situated at the southern end of the Settle-Carlisle Line 41 ¹⁄₂ miles (67 km) north of Leeds. Settle is also served by Giggleswick railway station under one mile to the west of the town on the Bentham Railway (Leeds-Lancaster-Morecambe)

For the original Settle station opened in 1849, see Giggleswick railway station.

Settle
The 'Derby Gothic' style station building.
Location
Place	Settle
Local authority	Craven
Coordinates	54.0670°N 2.2808°W / 54.0670; -2.2808
Grid reference	SD817634
Operations
Station code	SET
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.148 million
2015/16	0.133 million
2016/17	0.120 million
2017/18	0.141 million
2018/19	0.139 million
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1 May 1876	Opened as Settle New
1 July 1879	Renamed Settle
Listed status
Listed feature	Passenger Buildings and Platforms at Settle Station
Listing grade	Grade II listed
Entry number	1132349[1]
Added to list	9 March 1984
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Settle from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History and facilities

Settle station looking south showing the ex North British Railway footbridge.

Settle Signal Box

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.[2] The station was opened with the line on 1 May 1876 and was originally named Settle New to distinguish it from the nearby station on a different route, which was renamed Settle Old at the same time. Settle New was renamed Settle on 1 July 1879, by which time Settle Old had become Giggleswick.[3] Goods facilities were withdrawn from the station in 1970.

The railway station is located very close to the town centre and is staffed on a part-time basis. There is a range of facilities available (including waiting room, toilets and a souvenir shop) in the main buildings on the southbound platform.[4] There is a period stone-built waiting room located on the northbound platform and a new stone and glass shelter on the southbound side.

The platforms are linked by an ex-North British Railway footbridge that was formerly located at Drem station in East Lothian until electrification of the ECML made it redundant. It was then dismantled and re-erected here in 1993 to allow the old barrow crossing at the north end of the station to be taken out of regular use (though the crossing is still available for wheelchair users when the station is staffed).

A ticket machine is available for use when the booking office is closed. Train running information is provided by timetable posters, a P.A system and telephone. Digital information screens were also installed here in the summer of 2019.

The old station signal box, which closed in 1984[5] has been restored as a visitor attraction by the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line and is located behind the southbound platform[6] and is open to the public at certain times.[7]

The water tower situated near the station in the former goods yard was converted into residential accommodation in 2011.[8]

Accidents and incidents

On 21 January 1960, an express passenger train derailed just to the north of the station (near the village of Langcliffe) and then collided with a northbound freight due to a defect on the BR Standard Class 7 locomotive hauling it. Five people were killed and nine were injured.[9]

Services

Northern Trains Route 7: Bentham & Settle to Carlisle Lines
Carlisle Armathwaite Heysham Port Lazonby and Kirkoswald Morecambe Langwathby Bare Lane Appleby Lancaster Kirkby Stephen Carnforth Garsdale Wennington Dent Bentham Ribblehead Clapham Horton-in-Ribblesdale Giggleswick Settle Long Preston Hellifield Gargrave Skipton Keighley for Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Bingley Shipley Leeds

Monday to Saturdays there is generally a two-hourly service southbound to Leeds (nine trains a day in total Mon-Sat[10]) and northbound to Carlisle (eight). The last train of the day from Leeds runs only as far as Ribblehead and the corresponding return to Leeds starts back from there. Trains terminated or started from either Appleby or Armathwaite from the spring of 2016 whilst Network Rail repaired a major landslip at Eden Brows (between Armathwaite & Carlisle). A replacement bus service was in operation over the affected section until the project to repair the line was completed in March 2017.[11] The project was completed on schedule and the line reopened to traffic on 31 March 2017.

On Sundays there are now six trains in each direction throughout the year (including one through train to & from Nottingham), plus an additional summer service between Preston and Carlisle via Blackburn and Clitheroe (northbound in the morning, returning south in the afternoon) operated by Northern Rail under the Dalesrail brand.

The new Northern franchise awarded to Arriva Rail North in December 2015 and which started in April 2016, has seen modest service improvements from the station implemented from the May 2018 timetable change, with one extra weekday service each way and two extra trains each way on Sundays.[12]

References

1. Historic England. "Passenger Buildings and Platforms at Settle Station (1132349)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
2. "Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 208. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
4. Stations - Settle www.settle-carlisle.co.uk Accessed 23 November 2016
5. Settle - Carlisle timeline Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine www.settlecarlislerailway.co.uk Accessed 27 August 2008
6. Visit Cumbria - Settle Station Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Visit Cumbria website. Accessed 28 October 2008
7. Signal Box information Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Settle - Carlisle Partnership website Accessed 27 August 2008
8. "Settle Station Water Tower". Visit Settle. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
9. "Locomotive failure near Winchfield 23 November 2013" (PDF). Rail Accident Investigation Branch. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
10. Table 42 National Rail timetable, December 2019
11. "Landslip-hit Settle-to-Carlisle line section shut until 2017"BBC News; Retrieved 7 July 2016
12. "Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT". Retrieved 24 May 2020.

Further reading

• "Settle 'box refurbished after 20 years neglect". RAIL. No. 342. EMAP Apex Publications. 21 October – 3 November 1998. p. 15. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
• Anderson, V.R. and Fox, G.K. Stations and Structures of the Settle & Carlisle Railway, Oxford Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0-86093-360-1.

External links

• Settle - Carlisle Partnership Home Page
• Video on Settle railway station

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Long Preston		Northern Settle-Carlisle Line		Horton-in-Ribblesdale
	Historical railways
Settle Junction		Midland Railway Settle-Carlisle Line		Horton-in-Ribblesdale