Dent railway station serves the villages of Cowgill and Dent, in Cumbria, England and is on the Settle and Carlisle Line, which runs between and via . The station is sited from St Pancras, measured via Keighley and the former line through Cudworth. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains, who operate all services. It is the highest operational main line station in England.
History
The station was designed by the Midland Railway's company architect John Holloway Sanders and opened in 1877. It was closed in May 1970, but was reopened by British Rail in 1986 following a campaign to maintain regular stopping services along the line.
During the 1970s, the station was rented out to Barden School in Burnley as an outdoor pursuits centre, providing accommodation for pupils whilst they participated in courses including pot holing, caving, geology and map reading.
Location Dent village lies approximately by road to the west and below the height of the station. Cowgill is the nearest small village, located around half a mile away but at the foot of a steep (maximum 20% or 1 in 5) spiral access road.
At an altitude of and situated between Blea Moor Tunnel and Rise Hill Tunnel immediately to its north, Dent is the highest operational railway station on the National Rail network in England.
Facilities
There are stone-built passenger waiting rooms provided on both the northbound and southbound platforms. Access to the southbound platform is by an unguarded barrow crossing at the south end of the station for foot passengers to use; a 30 mph permanent speed restriction for non-stop trains through the station is enforced for this reason. National Rail recommends that disabled passengers should not use the southbound platform without assistance. Like most stations on the line, there are no ticket machines available as yet; travellers must buy one on the train or in advance. Train running information can be obtained by telephone on the platforms, from timetable posters or the customer information screens installed on either platform.
Old wooden snow fences are still in place on the eastern side of the station. The station buildings are now privately owned and are available to rent as holiday cottage accommodation.
Passenger volume +Passenger volume at _2004–052005–062006–072007–082008–092009–102010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25Entries and exits8,1817,1717,3287,0878,2188,72410,55810,85210,4409,7429,0548,4847,2487,9887,8948,1261,7868,9029,2369,1529,598 The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services As of the May 2026 timetable, the service consists of eight northbound trains and five or six southbound trains on weekdays and Saturdays (the other southbound trains do not stop), with six northbound and five southbound on Sundays.
Between February 2016 and March 2017, northbound trains terminated at or (with a bus link to Carlisle) due to repair works on the damaged embankment at Eden Brows. Services through to Carlisle resumed on 31 March 2017 upon reopening of the affected section to traffic.
Community rail The station, as with all others along the Settle-Carlisle line, is part of the Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust, a Community Rail scheme.
References
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External links