The station is more than 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) from the town (and over 150 feet (46 m) above it) at Midland Hill, just within the civil parish of Wharton. It was opened as Kirkby Stephen, but it was renamed Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedale in 1900, and then Kirkby Stephen West in 1953, to avoid confusion with the older Kirkby Stephen, later known as Kirkby Stephen East, station in the town, on the North Eastern Railway'sStainmore and Eden Valley lines. Its remote location was necessitated by the Midland Railway's desire to keep gradients on the line to no greater than 1 in 100 for fast running.[3] Had it been any closer to the town, the climb up to the summit of the line at Ais Gill would have exceeded this limit considerably. The West station reverted to the name Kirkby Stephen in 1968, but was closed (along with all other stations on the line except Settle and Appleby) in May 1970. It was reopened by British Rail in July 1986.
The station is leased by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust, which comprehensively restored it in 2009.[4] The main buildings on platform 1 now incorporate a caretaker's flat, offices, holiday accommodation and the Midland Room, opened in July 2011,[5] which includes a cafe and exhibition of items related to the Settle and Carlisle railway. Platform 2 (northbound) has a stone shelter. The old goods shed to the south is now in private commercial use, goods facilities having been withdrawn here in 1964.
Step-free access to both platforms is available (ramps to platform 2 from the road below), along with a footbridge (erected in the mid-1990s after becoming redundant at its original location at Guiseley).[6] No ticket machine is present, so passengers must buy in advance or from the conductor on the train (though operator Northern is in the process of installing one and also digital information screens as part of a rolling station upgrade programme on the route).[7] Buses to and from the town call close to the station entrance on the A685 road to Kendal.[3]
The station is served by eight trains in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays: northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Leeds.[8] A new early morning Monday to Friday service southbound began in May 2011. The first weekday northbound service now runs through from Leeds, rather than arriving from Carlisle and returning there after a reversal as before.
There are six departures each way on Sundays throughout the year, including a through train to and from Nottingham. DalesRail services between Blackpool North/Preston and Carlisle used to call at the station on summer Sundays, but this service did not run in 2023. A replacement Saturday service from Rochdale via Manchester Victoria marketed as the "Yorkshire Dales Explorer" is due to operate from the start of the summer 2024 timetable. However, this will terminate/start at Ribblehead further to the south and passengers will need to change there or at Settle to access it.
References
^"Notes by the Way". Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 1 November 1884. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ abStations in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees are considered part of North East England, while stations in the unitary areas of York and North Yorkshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber.
^Stations in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber, while all other stations are considered part of the East Midlands.
