Long Preston railway station

Long Preston is a railway station on the Bentham Line, which runs between Leeds and Morecambe via Skipton. The station, situated 37+1⁄2 miles (60 km) north-west of Leeds, serves the village of Long Preston in North Yorkshire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Long Preston
General information
Location	Long Preston, Craven England
Coordinates	54°01′00″N 2°15′19″W
Grid reference	SD833579
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	LPR
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	"Little" North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
30 July 1849	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	11,670
2019/20	13,624
2020/21	1,678
2021/22	8,974
2022/23	14,042
Location Long Preston Location in North Yorkshire, England
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Heading west, it is the last station before the Bentham Line and Settle and Carlisle Line diverge at Settle Junction, situated to the north of the village.

History

The station was opened on 30 July 1849 by the "Little" North Western Railway. It was later taken over by the Midland Railway.^[1]

Facilities

Facilities at the station are somewhat basic. The original wooden station buildings were demolished in the early 1970s, and there are now just simple waiting shelters on each platform. There is an operational help point to obtain timetable information or emergency assistance as well as a telephone which direct dials to the signaller which can be used for train running information. There is also a small car park.

The station is unstaffed, but a ticket machine was installed in 2019 to allow travellers to buy tickets before travelling. There is level access to the southbound platform only - the opposite side has a ramp, but this is quite steep and is not recommended for use by disabled travellers.^[2] Train running information is provided by telephone, customer information screens and timetable posters.

Services

Northern Trains Route 7
v t e
Settle & Carlisle & Bentham lines
Carlisle Armathwaite Lazonby & Kirkoswald Langwathby Appleby Kirkby Stephen Garsdale Dent Ribblehead Horton-in-Ribblesdale Settle Heysham Port Morecambe Bare Lane Lancaster Carnforth Wennington Bentham Clapham Giggleswick Long Preston Hellifield Gargrave Skipton Keighley Bingley Shipley Leeds

Generally, there is a train at least every two hours from Long Preston southbound towards Leeds (thirteen departures per day in total) and northbound. All services from Leeds to Lancaster (eight per day) stop there, along with four Leeds to Carlisle trains. There is also one train each day that runs north only as far as Ribblehead, whilst five Lancaster trains continue to Morecambe and the last southbound train terminates at Skipton.^[3]

For many years on Sundays, only Leeds - Morecambe trains stopped at Long Preston. However, since 2009, certain Carlisle trains have also served the station on Sundays. As a result, there are now five trains to Lancaster/Morecambe and two to Carlisle northbound and nine trains to Leeds southbound (the two morning/early afternoon services on the Morecambe line that formerly ran in summer only up until 2010 now run throughout the year). The station also now has an afternoon departure that runs through to Sheffield and Nottingham and a single service to Heysham Port in the late morning.

References

1. Bairstow, p. 96
2. Long Preston station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 29 November 2016
3. GB eNRT May 2023 Edition, Table 35 (Network Rail)

Sources

• Bairstow, M. (2000), The 'Little' North Western Railway, Martin Bairstow, Leeds, ISBN 1-871944-21-X

External links

• Media related to Long Preston railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Long Preston railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hellifield		Northern Trains Leeds to Morecambe Line		Giggleswick
Hellifield		Northern Trains Settle-Carlisle Line		Settle
	Historical railways
Hellifield		Midland Railway "Little" North Western Railway		Settle Junction