Brampton railway station (Cumbria)

Brampton (Cumbria) is a railway station on the Tyne Valley Line, which runs between Newcastle and Carlisle via Hexham. The station, situated 10 mi east of Carlisle, serves the hamlet of Milton and the town of Brampton, Cumberland in Cumbria, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History
The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway was formed in 1829, and was opened in stages. The station was opened in July 1836, following the opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway between Greenhead and Carlisle London Road.

Upon opening, the station was called Milton, or possibly, Milton for Brampton. According to Quick (2022), the station has since been renamed several times. Nowadays, the station is commonly suffixed as Brampton (Cumbria), in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in Suffolk.

Brampton operated as a junction station from opening in 1836, linking with a short branch line, the Brampton Railway, known locally as The Dandy. The line, which was initially horse-drawn, ran into the town, terminating at Brampton Town. This short branch line was taken over by the North Eastern Railway in 1912, with the track relaid and locomotive operated services resuming from August 1913, with a break from 1917 to 1920. The line was closed in 1923, with most of the former route now serving as a public footpath.

The station was also the junction of another railway serving the local collieries owned by the Earl of Carlisle. Known as Lord Carlisle's Railway, this ran to a junction with the Alston Line at Lambley. This mineral railway closed in March 1953.

The first Station Master at Brampton was Thomas Edmondson, who introduced cardboard tickets and later developed the ticket dating machine.

The station was host to a camping coach from 1935 to 1939 – one of 119 vehicles converted by the London and North Eastern Railway between 1933 and 1938.

Brampton was reduced to an unstaffed halt in 1967, along with most of the other stations on the line that escaped the Beeching Axe. The former station buildings were subsequently demolished in stages during the 1970s and 1980s.

Facilities
The station has two platforms, both of which have a ticket machine (which accepts card or contactless payment only), seating, waiting shelter, next train audio and visual displays and an emergency help point. There is step-free access to both platforms, however the Carlisle-bound platform is not fully accessible from the station's car park. Both platforms are also linked by a pre-grouping metal footbridge, similar to those at Haltwhistle and Wetheral. There is a small car park at the station.

Brampton (Cumbria) is part of the Northern Trains penalty fare network, meaning that a valid ticket or promise to pay notice is required prior to boarding the train.

Services
As of the December 2023 timetable change, there are ten trains per day (eleven on Saturday and nine on Sunday) heading west towards Carlisle. Heading east towards Newcastle via Hexham, there are eleven trains per day (ten on Saturday and eight on Sunday). Some trains extend to Morpeth or Nunthorpe via Hartlepool. All services are operated by Northern Trains.

Rolling stock used: Class 156 Super Sprinter and Class 158 Express Sprinter