St Bees Railway Station serves the village of St Bees

St Bees

St Bees is a village and civil parish in the Copeland district of Cumbria, in the North of England, about five miles west southwest of Whitehaven. The parish had a population of 1,717 according to the 2001 census. Within the parish is St...

 in Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Description

The railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 is a stop on part of the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line

Cumbrian Coast Line

The Cumbrian Coast Line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues via Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands to Carnforth, where it connects with the West Coast Main...

 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) south-west of Carlisle

Carlisle railway station

Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station whichserves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying south of Glasgow Central, and north of London Euston...

. It is operated by Northern Rail

Northern Rail

Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...

 who provide all passenger train services. The station has a 24 lever signal box, which was opened in 1891 to meet the heavy traffic demands of that time, and a level crossing controlled by the signalman. It is the location of the only passing loop on the otherwise single track section between Whitehaven

Whitehaven railway station

Whitehaven Railway Station serves the town of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line south west of Carlisle....

 and Sellafield

Sellafield railway station

Sellafield railway station serves the nuclear facility of Sellafield in Cumbria, England. The railway station is a stop on the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line. Some through trains to the Furness Line stop here...

 and trains are often scheduled to pass here.

There is a car park adjacent in the old goods yard.

The station is situated only 200 yards from the centre of the village, and there are three pubs within easy walking distance; one, the Albert, formerly being noted for having warning of the approaching trains rung through from the signalbox in the evening.

St Bees is famous for the rocky St. Bees Head

St. Bees Head

St Bees Head is a headland on the North West coast of the English county of Cumbria and is named after the nearby village of St Bees.It lies on the Cumbria Coastal Way and WainwrightCoast to Coast long-distance footpaths, it is the only stretch of Heritage Coast on the English coastline between the...

, the starting point of the Coast to Coast Walk

Coast to Coast Walk

The Coast to Coast Walk is a 192-mile unofficial and mostly unsignposted long distance footpath in Northern England...

 that runs from the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 to the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. Many walkers use the station to get transport to or from the starting/finishing point. Other attractions include St Bees Priory

St Bees Priory

St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria. The Benedictine priory was founded by William le Meschin, Lord of Egremont on an earlier religious site, and was dedicated by Archbishop Thurstan of York sometime between 1120 and 1135...

 a former Benedictine monastery now used as the parish church.

The coming of the railway

In 1848 Canon Richard Parkinson, Vicar of St Bees and Principal of the Theological College wrote in his diary: "November 8th., 1848. The Railway-whistle heard for the first time in this quiet valley. Its peace is gone!" Later, on 12 February 1849 he records, "Ash Wednesday. Good congregation. The first train of coal wagons on this day (dies cinerum)" [Latin for Day of Ashes] "went on the railway to Braystones".

Services

On Monday to Saturdays there is a roughly hourly service (ten trains each way) northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness railway station

Barrow-in-Furness railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. It is located on the Furness Line to Lancaster and the Cumbrian Coast Line to Workington and Carlisle...

.

There is no evening or Sunday service.