Bootle railway station

For railway stations in Bootle, Merseyside, see Bootle New Strand railway station and Bootle Oriel Road railway station.

Bootle is a railway station on the Cumbrian Coast line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The station, situated 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Barrow-in-Furness, serves the village of Bootle in Cumbria. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Bootle Bootle (Cumbria)
General information
Location	Bootle, Copeland England
Coordinates	54°17′28″N 3°23′38″W
Grid reference	SD093892
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	BOC
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Furness Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
8 July 1850	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	17,226
2020/21	4,616
2021/22	12,154
2022/23	11,966
2023/24	11,998
Location Bootle Location in Copeland, Cumbria Show map of the former Borough of Copeland Bootle Location in Cumbria, England Show map of Cumbria
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway was authorised in 1847 for a line which would link the town of Whitehaven with the Furness Railway at Broughton-in-Furness.^[1] It was opened in stages, and the section between Ravenglass and Bootle opened on 8 July 1850.^[2][3] The last section between Bootle and Broughton-in-Furness was opened for passenger services 1 November 1850,^[4] with trains carrying Lord Lonsdale and invited guests having travelled over the section on at least two occasions in October.

The station buildings, as photographed in July 1998

Facilities

The Grade II-listed signal box, as photographed in October 2005.

The station had a coal depot, a goods yard with a shed and 5 ton crane, the yard was able to accommodate live stock, horse and cattle vans.^[5][6] The station was host to a LMS caravan in 1936.^[7]

It has retained its main buildings, being the stationmaster's house waiting rooms and restrooms but these are now two private residences and the station is unstaffed. The station clock is original and still works.

The buildings are built from red granite and sandstone. Originally the design was used on many of the stations on the Cumbrian Coast Line but today only three exist. This one, Drigg and Ravenglass.

There were no ticket facilities prior to 2019, but a ticket vending machine has now been installed by Northern to allow passenger to buy before boarding.

Shelters are present on both platforms, with the wooden one on the northbound side being the more substantial of the two.

A level crossing with hand-operated gates (and supervising signal box) links the platforms, which both have step-free access from the road.

The signal box c. 1874 is a Furness Railway Type 1 design and retains a London Midland Region lever frame of 15 levers installed in 1977. and was listed in November 2013 under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Train running information can be obtained by telephone, digital display screens or from timetable posters.^[8]

Services

Northern Trains Route 6
v t e
Cumbrian Coast, Furness & Windermere lines
Carlisle Dalston Wigton Aspatria Maryport Flimby Workington Harrington Parton Whitehaven Corkickle St Bees Nethertown Braystones Sellafield Seascale Drigg Ravenglass Bootle Silecroft Millom Green Road Foxfield Kirkby-in-Furness Askam Barrow-in-Furness Roose Dalton Ulverston Cark & Cartmel Kents Bank Grange-over-Sands Arnside Silverdale Carnforth Windermere Staveley Burneside Kendal Oxenholme Lake District Lancaster Preston Chorley Bolton Deansgate Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Airport
Braystones & Nethertown are request stops.

Monday to Saturdays there is generally an hourly (with some longer gaps in the early morning and afternoon) request service southbound to Barrow and northbound towards Whitehaven and Carlisle. Some services continue beyond Barrow via the Furness line to Lancaster.^[9] The timetable now operates later into the evening than before since the summer 2018 timetable came into effect.

A Sunday service (broadly hourly each way from late morning until 19:00) now operates - this was introduced at the May 2018 timetable change.

Explosion on 22 March 1945

At about 22:17 on 22 March 1945 a wagon containing depth charges in a southbound freight train caught fire on approaching Bootle. The train crew, driver H. Goodall and fireman Herbert Norman Stubbs, on becoming aware of the fire, stopped the train south of Bootle station. Despite the fierce fire, the crew isolated the burning wagon by uncoupling the rear portion of the train, then drawing it forward to before uncoupling the burning wagon. With the wagon isolated, the fireman went forward to protect the northbound line while the driver went back in a possible attempt to fight the fire. At this point the depth charges violently exploded, killing the driver and creating a crater 105 feet long to a depth of 50 feet. The line was closed for three days whilst the crater was filled in and the track relaid.

Stubbs was subsequently awarded the George Medal and the Order of Industrial Heroism.^[10][11][12]

See also

• Listed buildings in Bootle, Cumbria

Looking south towards Barrow-in-Furness, as photographed in October 1966.

References

1. Rush, Robert W. (1973). The Furness Railway 1843-1923. The Oakwood Library of Railway History. Lingfield: Oakwood Press. pp. 33–34. OL35.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. "Opening of the Railway to Bootle". Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser. 9 July 1850. p. 3.
4. "Local Intelligence". Carlisle Patriot. 2 November 1850. p. 2.
5. "Bootle station on OS 25inch map Cumberland LXXXV.11 (Bootle)". National Library of Scotland. 1863. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
6. The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. p. 69. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.
7. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 22. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
8. Bootle (Cumbria) station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 2 December 2016
9. Table 100 National Rail timetable, December 2019
10. Braniff, P.V. (June 2000). "I Owe My life to Harold". Life Saving Awards Research Society Journal (39): 36–38.
11. "(unknown)" (PDF). North West Evening Mail. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019. {{cite news}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
12. "Herbert Norman Stubbs Fireman Ammunition Train Explosion 22nd March 1945". Cumbria Railways. Retrieved 22 May 2019.

External links

• Cumbria portal

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ravenglass		Northern Trains Cumbrian Coast line		Silecroft
	Historical railways
Eskmeals		Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway		Silecroft