Place Bullgill Grid reference NY095385 Platforms in use 3 | Area Allerdale 1840 Opened | |
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Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway 7 March 1960 Station closed to passengers Original company Maryport and Carlisle Railway Similar Baggrow railway station, Curthwaite railway station, Cummersdale railway station, Glasson railway station, Brayton railway station | ||
Bullgill or Bull Gill was a railway station on the Maryport and Carlisle Railway (M&CR) serving Bullgill in Cumbria. The station was opened by the M&CR in 1840 and lay in the Parish of Oughterside and Allerby.
History
Bullgill station was opened by the Maryport & Carlisle Railway (M&CR) in 1840. At grouping in 1923 the M&CR became a part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. It was closed to passenger traffic by the British Transport Commission on 7 March 1960 and to all traffic four years later. Much of the station has since been demolished, but remnants of the southbound platform still survive and can been seen from passing trains.
The main Carlisle-Maryport line (completed in 1845) remains open and forms part of the Cumbrian Coast Line between Carlisle and Barrow in Furness. Prior to closure John Joseph Metcalfe was the Station Master. In 2009 the local community recommended that the station should be re-opened.
The station was also the junction for the M&CR's branch line to Brigham and Cockermouth, which opened in April 1867. Though the line was built primarily to handle iron-ore traffic, it was also used by passenger services. These started from Maryport and ran north to Bullgill, where they reversed. They then continued south to Brigham, where another reversal was necessary before they ran onwards to their destination at Cockermouth. The need for these reversals meant that the modest 12 miles (19 km) journey took 50 minutes to complete. This line was closed to passengers by the LMS on 29 April 1935 and subsequently dismantled.