Settle railway station

Settle is a railway station on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between Carlisle and Leeds. The station, situated 41 mi north of Leeds, serves the market town of Settle, Craven in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

The market town is also served by the railway station at Giggleswick, situated about a mile to the south-west; it is on the Bentham Line, which runs between Leeds and Morecambe via Lancaster.

History
The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders. The station was opened with the line on 1 May 1876 and was originally named Settle New to distinguish it from the nearby station on a different route, which was renamed Settle Old at the same time. Settle New was renamed Settle on 1 July 1879, by which time Settle Old had become Giggleswick. Goods facilities were withdrawn from the station in 1970.

The station was Grade II listed on 9 March 1984.

The platforms are linked by an ex-North British Railway footbridge that was formerly located at Drem station in East Lothian, until electrification of the East Coast Main Line made it redundant. It was then dismantled and re-erected here in 1993 to allow the old barrow crossing at the north end of the station to be taken out of regular use; the crossing is still available for wheelchair users when the station is staffed.

The former station signal box, which had been out of railway use since 1984, was relocated further north to be adjacent to the Down platform in 1997; it is open to the public on most Saturdays.

The water tower situated near the station in the former goods yard was converted into residential accommodation in 2011. It has subsequently been featured in several television documentaries.

Stationmasters

 * J. Smith 1876 – 1879
 * Richard Allcock 1879 – 1883
 * Benjamin Ash 1883 – 1905
 * Arthur Reedman Snow 1906 – ca. 1911
 * Abraham Fearn ca. 1914 – 1924 (formerly station master at Oxenhope, afterwards station master at Clay Cross)
 * Harold Tilforth 1924 – 1925 (resigned to avoid being dealt with for a cash irregularity)
 * John Banks ca. 1939 – 1946
 * Thomas William Whetten from 1946 (formerly station master at Kirby Lonsdale)
 * Harry Robinson
 * James M. Taylor 1959 – 1965 (formerly station master at Horton in Ribblesdale)

Facilities
The station is located very close to the town centre and is staffed on a part-time basis. There is a range of facilities available, including a waiting room, toilets and a souvenir shop in the main buildings on the southbound platform.

There is a period stone-built waiting room located on the northbound platform and a new stone and glass shelter on the southbound side.

A ticket machine is available for use when the booking office is closed. Train running information is provided by timetable posters, a PA system and digital information screens.

Accidents and incidents
On 21 January 1960, an express passenger train derailed just to the north of the station (near the village of Langcliffe) and then collided with a northbound freight due to a defect on the BR Standard Class 7 locomotive hauling it. Five people were killed and nine were injured.

Services
Monday to Saturdays there is generally a two-hourly service southbound to Leeds (nine trains a day in total Mon-Sat ) and northbound to Carlisle (eight). The last train of the day from Leeds runs only as far as Ribblehead and the corresponding return to Leeds starts back from there. Trains terminated or started from either Appleby or Armathwaite from the spring of 2016 whilst Network Rail repaired a major landslip at Eden Brows (between Armathwaite & Carlisle). A replacement bus service was in operation over the affected section until the project to repair the line was completed in March 2017. The project was completed on schedule and the line reopened to traffic on 31 March 2017.

On Sundays there are now six trains in each direction throughout the year (including one through train to & from Nottingham); the additional summer service between Preston and Carlisle via Blackburn and Clitheroe (northbound in the morning, returning south in the afternoon) operated by Northern Rail under the DalesRail brand didn't run in 2023. A replacement service on Saturdays from Rochdale via Manchester Victoria and Blackburn is due to start in June 2024, with two trips each way up to Ribblehead. These will be time to connect with Leeds to Carlisle trains to allow access to stations further north.

The new Northern franchise awarded to Arriva Rail North in December 2015 and which started in April 2016, saw modest service improvements from the station implemented from the May 2018 timetable change, with one extra weekday service each way and two extra trains each way on Sundays.