Carlisle. More trains to/from Preston & Manchester Airport are planned to follow when rolling stock becomes available. Layout Platform 1, which contains the entrance to the station, is used primarily for Northern Rail through trains (from Lancaster/Preston to Carlisle) heading north, and trains heading to/arriving from Preston and Manchester Airport. The platform has a waiting area, the ticket office and information office and toilets, along with the cafe (run by Cafexpress), all of which have been recently renovated. In early 2012, the platform was also presented by pieces of artwork of the local area by the Mayor of Barrow and the Barrow and Furness MP. Platform 2 is mainly used for Northern services heading south to Lancaster or Preston, and local trains arriving from /. Platform 3 is a bay platform that can only be used by northbound trains to and . It is used several times each day. In between Platforms 2 and 3 is an indoor waiting area, with live departures indicator, a vending machine and speakers. Further up and down the platform are printed timetables; the rest of the buildings contain offices for staff and British Transport Police. There is a Northern train crew depot at the station and there are a number of sidings to the north used for servicing and stabling empty DMUs. Recent renovations The station has recently been renovated, with replacement of most of the old seating and waiting areas, and replacement of the ageing automatic doors within the station. Electronic information signs have been installed, along with improved CCTV after several incidents on the station. Ramps have been provided for access, and this is continuing with provision of better access to Platforms 2 and 3, which previously would have been accessible only via the very end of the platform. The station restaurant is also being upgraded. In fiction In the Railway Series books by the Rev. W Awdry, and the adapted television series Thomas & Friends, Barrow Central is the mainland terminus for the Fat Controller's North Western Railway, and is connected to the fictional Island of Sodor by a bridge to Vickerstown or as it is known in the books, Vicarstown. Gallery References External links Buildings and structures in Barrow-in-Furness E. G. Paley buildings Transport in Barrow-in-Furness Railway stations in Cumbria DfT Category D stations Former Furness Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1882 Northern franchise railway stations