The Carnforth Railway Heritage Centre is to close on 10th October 2024.It is best known for featuring in the 1945 movie ‘Brief Encounter’, directed by David Lean and starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, which inspired the remobavtion fo thesae station buildings in the 1990s and early 2000s. The Centre became part of the working station, and is adjacent to two listed signal boxes.

Before the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, around 45,000 people visited the Centre annually, whichwas entuirtely volunteer run . However, those figures have halved, since the Centre re-opened in 2021. The lease is to be returned to Network Rail and the local town council is set to discuss the future of the Heritage Centre at a meeting on 16 October.

In 1996 the Carnforth Station and Railway Trust was formed to save and restore the passenger waiting rooms, which had been abandoned in 1970. Former rail infrastructure company Railtrack invested in the site’s renovation, and local residents raised £1.5m to restore it to its 1940s glory. The Brief Encounter refreshment room, Heritage Centre and offices were opened in October 2003. In 2019, the Heritage Centre won the Lancashire Tourism Award for small visitor attraction.