Flimby railway station

Flimby
General information
Location	Flimby, Cumberland England
Coordinates	54°41′24″N 3°31′14″W
Grid reference	NY020338
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	FLM
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Whitehaven Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
19 January 1846	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	12,844
2020/21	4,372
2021/22	10,502
2022/23	10,574
2023/24	12,458
Location Flimby Location in Allerdale, Cumbria Flimby Location in Cumbria, England
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Flimby railway station serves the coastal village of Flimby in Cumbria, England. It is on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which runs between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

History

Flimby railway station was opened by the Whitehaven Junction Railway in 1846 along with the rest of the stations on the line from Maryport to Whitehaven Bransty.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has no buildings other than a footbridge and waiting shelters. Tickets can be purchased from the ticket machine. The two platforms are of differing construction - the southbound is stone whereas the northbound one is wooden. Step-free access is only available for southbound passengers, as the footbridge does not have ramps. Train running information is provided by telephone and timetable posters, with digital information screens due to be commissioned here in the winter of 2019.

Services

Northern Trains Route 6
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.

There is generally an hourly service northbound to Carlisle and southbound to Whitehaven with most trains going onward to Barrow-in-Furness (no late evening service operates south of Whitehaven). All of these trains only stop at Flimby on request.

Train operator Northern introduced a regular through service to Barrow via the coast at the May 2018 timetable change - the first such service south of Whitehaven since 1976. Services run approximately hourly from late morning until early evening, with later trains terminating at Whitehaven. This represents a major upgrade on the former infrequent service of four per day each way to/from Whitehaven only that previously operated.

In the aftermath of the November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods Flimby saw its passenger numbers soar because of the closure of road transport between the north and south of the town of Workington. Additional peak-time services were added for 26–27 November, followed by a new hourly shuttle service northbound to Maryport and southbound to Workington. This shuttle train was timetabled to always stop at Flimby, briefly reversing its status as a request-only stop. This operated between 30 November 2009 and 28 May 2010. Workington North railway station, a temporary station, opened south of Flimby on 30 November 2009, reducing the pressure on trains at Flimby. In addition, all services between Workington, Workington North, Flimby and Maryport were free of charge for this period.

In January 2014, services through the station had to be suspended for several days following flood damage to a 200yd (180m) section of track south of the station caused by strong winds and tidal surges (the railway runs very close to the seashore at this point). The line was closed for a week whilst repairs were carried out.

Accidents

On 1 February 1858, near Flimby colliery which is around a mile north of Flimby railway station, a coal train from Maryport was struck by a scheduled mixed goods and passenger train. It was said that the sharp curve on the line prevented the drivers from seeing each other. The crew of the two trains jumped out and only the fireman of the passenger train was hurt. It was found that the two drivers were not to blame and it was miscommunication between the signalman near the colliery and the Maryport telegraph clerk that caused the clerk to tell the driver of the coal train to proceed. Whilst the clerk was away a third message came through, to which the son of the signalman at the colliery replied "GD" meaning "good", and so the signalman allowed the passenger train to proceed, thus causing the accident.

Cultural References

The station appears briefly in the video to the song Starburster by Dublin band, the Fontaines D.C.

External links

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Maryport		Northern Trains Cumbrian Coast Line		Workington
	Historical railways
Maryport		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line		Workington North
Maryport		London and North Western Railway Whitehaven Junction Railway		Siddick Junction