Arnside and Silverdale AONB - Visit Bittern

Visit Bittern initiative - Sustainable Tourism for the Arnside/Silverdale AONB

Arnside Knott from Sandside access for all scheme winter woodland management by the AONB Volunteers

Trans-Pennine Express services from Arnside connect with BARROW and LANCASTER where you can change for mainline services. Frequent trains also provide a direct service to MANCHESTER and MANCHESTER AIRPORT.
There are also a number of direct services to LIVERPOOL each day.

It is also possible to catch Northern Trains services that call at stations to BARROW and then run up the scenic WEST COAST LINE to CARLISLE calling at such small stations as Foxfield, Kirkby in Furness, Ravenglass (connecting with the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway). Services also call at Whitehaven, Workington and Wigton on route to Carlisle.

The AONB office enjoys a spectacular view rainbow

Arnside Station and AONB Office

"The Bittern Centre" - Located in the Old Station Building at Arnside, is the Office for the AONB Service. Call in for leaflets and information about the area and we always have stocks of current railway timetables available.

The Office is open Monday to Friday - usually from 8:45am until 4:45pm and callers are assured of a warm welcome.

Stations on the line include Carnforth Grange over Sands, Cark, Ulverston, and Dalton.

Trains from Barrow call on the Office Platform and it is an easy start point for staff if they need to go to Manchester, Preston or Lancaster for meetings.

Check the live Departure board for the next trains to call at Arnside

View of Silverdale Station from Storrs Lane bridge over the railway

Silverdale Staion is virtually next door to The RSPB Reserve at Leighton Moss.

The reserve is just a short walk from the Station - Visitors to the reserve who arrive by public transport get free admission to the reserve - the Visitor centre, and the excellent cafe tearoom, is open from 9:30am until 4:30pm over winter. The reserve is open 9 am to dusk all year round except Christmas Day.

A really useful service to those alighting from trains at Silverdale, is the excellent connecting bus service at Silverdale Station - the Silverdale Shuttle bus - which links virtually every part of the village to the station. The bus aims to connect with most of the trains which stop at the Station during weekday mornings and afternoons.

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Rail services from Silverdale are much the same as from Arnside. However whilst trains do offer much the same connections as trains from Arnside, it must be noted that not all services call at both stations as the travel through the AONB. There are service connections with BARROW and LANCASTER where you can change for mainline services along with reasonably frequent trains for a direct service to MANCHESTER and MANCHESTER AIRPORT.
There are also a number of direct services to LIVERPOOL each day.

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Carnforth Station - immortalised in David Lean film "Brief Encounter" starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, the Station is host to the Carnforth Connect office as well providing exhibtion space, shops, information and a visitor centre.

Unfortunately unlike in the days of "Brief Encounter", you can no longer catch mainline trains from London or Glasgow at Carnforth, but it is still a junction station with services from Leeds, Barrow and Lancaster

Carnforth Station is the base for the Carnforth Connect service and services leave from the front door of the station. Stagecoach buses also call at the station.

	Trains from Carnforth go three ways, South, West or East. Maybe one day they will reopen the platform to the North and Carnforth can rise phoenix like and assume its rightful place as the ideal transport gateway to the AONB.

New trains have just been introduced on the service, which are capable of higher speeds when on the main line and are a major improvement over some of the old rolling stock. The main shopping street in town is very close to the station, which makes the railway a practical means of travel for a small shopping trip. There is a good sized car park available on the station concourse as well, so it's really easy to park your car and head into the AONB by train.

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Mainline Links:

Passengers can change onto the West Coast mainline services run by Virgin Trains at Lancaster or even Preston in many cases

Both Pendolino and Voyager trains are operated on the line, as well a slower services for Windermere, Staveley, Kendal, Oxenholme and Morecambe

A useful website link for planning journeys by public transport - particularly for longer trips - is Traveline

The site claims to be the UK's No 1 website for impartial information on planning your journey, by bus, coach or train... or any combination of the three!

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To view the leaflet Visit Bittern which complements this website click here Visit Bittern.

You can download a copy of our guide to the AONB from here by clicking on the link to
The Bittern.

(Please note this is a large file in pdf format - 1.2 Mb)

You can download a free copy of
Acrobat Reader by clicking the Adobe link below.

Please Contact Us with questions and comments.

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No part of this site - excepting downloadable documents - may be reproduced in any form (electronically or in print) without the written permission of the Arnside/Silverdale AONB Service. The AONB Service is not responsible for the content of any external websites connected from visitbittern.co.uk