Dalston railway station (Cumbria)


Dalston railway station serves the village of Dalston in Cumbria, England. The railway station is on the northern part of the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line south west of Carlisle.
The station is owned by Network Rail and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services. Like most of the stations on this line is unstaffed, so passengers need to purchase tickets on the train. Step-free access is available to both platforms and train running information is provided by telephone and timetable posters. Digital information screens and a ticket machine are also being installed by Northern in 2019 as part of a rolling station improvement plan in the area.

History

It was opened in 1844 by the Maryport and Carlisle Railway, with trains running through to from the beginning of the following year. It became an unstaffed halt in 1967, but has kept its period stone waiting shelter on the northbound platform, lattice footbridge and main buildings on the opposite side. It is also one of the last active freight locations on this route - an oil terminal on the eastern side of the line just south of the station receives regular trainloads of fuel oil from Grangemouth Refinery in Scotland. Two crossovers operated from ground frames located at the station are used for shunting purposes when trains require access to the terminal sidings.

Services

There is generally an hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Whitehaven with most trains going onward to Barrow-in-Furness.
Train operator Northern introduced a regular Sunday through service to Barrow via the coast at the May 2018 timetable change - the first such service south of Whitehaven for more than 40 years. Services run approximately hourly from late morning until early evening, with later trains terminating at Whitehaven. This represents a major upgrade on the former infrequent service of four per day each way to/from Whitehaven only that previously operated.