Knottingley railway station
Encyclopedia
Knottingley
Knottingley is a town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the A1 road. It has a population of 13,503....
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. It lies on the Pontefract Line
Pontefract Line
The Pontefract Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. The service is operated by Northern Rail, and links Wakefield and Leeds with Goole via Pontefract...
, operated by Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
, and is 16 miles (25.7 km) south east of Leeds railway station.
The station is the final one in West Yorkshire before the North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
border and most services terminate (or start) there.
History
The station was constructed by the Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole Railway as part of their main line from WakefieldWakefield Kirkgate railway station
Wakefield Kirkgate railway station is a railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike the nearby Wakefield Westgate railway station, Kirkgate is unstaffed and served mostly by local trains...
to Goole
Goole railway station
Goole railway station serves the town of Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.The service is operated and the station is managed by Northern Rail...
, which opened in April 1848. It wasn't long though before it became a busy junction, as within two years links to Doncaster
Doncaster railway station
Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
via the Askern branch
Askern Branch Line
The Askern Branch Line is a railway line in South, North and West Yorkshire in England which runs from Shaftholme Junction north of Doncaster , via Askern, Norton and Womersley to Knottingley, where it joins the Pontefract Line.-History:It was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on 6 June...
(on 6 June 1848), Leeds via Castleford
Castleford
Castleford is the largest of the "five towns" district in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near Pontefract, and has a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census, but has seen a rise in recent years and is now around 45-50,000. To the north...
and Methley Junction (1 December 1849) and York
York railway station
York railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
via Ferrybridge
Ferrybridge railway station
Ferrybridge railway station was a railway station located in Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, England on the London and North Eastern Line. The station was opened in 1882 by the North Eastern Railway, three years after the completion of the Swinton & Knottingley Joint line via Moorthorpe on 1 May 1879...
and Burton Salmon
Burton Salmon
Burton Salmon is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with West Yorkshire, and about three miles north of Knottingley, on the A162 road...
(1 August 1850) had all been opened. The first of those was jointly built and operated by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
and Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
and the station also became jointly managed by these two companies in 1854. The Great Northern made use of its running powers and traffic agreements with the LYR to run through trains from Doncaster to both Leeds and York, putting the town on a new main line between London & York for a number of years until shorter, more direct lines could be constructed.
By 1871 the station had lost its trunk line status with the opening of new lines from Doncaster via Wakefield (to Leeds) & Selby (to York), but it still handled plenty of local passenger and freight traffic (particularly coal from a large number of collieries in the area).
Whilst all of the aforementioned lines are still open, only the original WP&G routes now carry passenger trains as services to York ended on 11 July 1947 and those to Doncaster just over a year later on 27 September 1948. The line to Wakefield Kirkgate also lost its passenger trains from 2 January 1967 (leaving only the route to Leeds serving the station) but it was re-opened in May 1992 with financial assistance from West Yorkshire PTE.
Regular passenger trains on the Askern line now operate once again (commencing on 23 May 2010 after an absence of more than 60 years), following the decision to grant open access operator Grand Union track access rights for a new service between London Kings Cross and Bradford Interchange in January 2009. These run via the Askern line, Pontefract, Wakefield and Brighouse
Brighouse railway station
Brighouse railway station serves the town of Brighouse in West Yorkshire, England. The station lies on the Caldervale Line and the Huddersfield Line running west from Leeds. The station reopened in 2000 and is served by local Northern Rail trains.- History :...
to reach Bradford but are not able to call at Knottingley as the old Doncaster line platforms have long been removed.
Services
There is an hourly service from Knottingley to both the nearby cities of Leeds and Wakefield (KirkgateWakefield Kirkgate railway station
Wakefield Kirkgate railway station is a railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike the nearby Wakefield Westgate railway station, Kirkgate is unstaffed and served mostly by local trains...
) via Pontefract Monkhill with one train to/two trains from Goole
Goole railway station
Goole railway station serves the town of Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.The service is operated and the station is managed by Northern Rail...
each weekday. On Sundays there is a two-hourly service to Leeds.