The West Riding and Grimsby Railway was a joint railway whose main line linked Wakefield

Wakefield

Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....

 with Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, whilst a branch line ran between Adwick

Adwick le Street

Adwick-le-Street is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.-Geography:It is situated a few miles to the north west of the town of Doncaster. It has a population of 10,507....

 and Stainforth

Stainforth, South Yorkshire

Stainforth is a small town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is located roughly north-east of Doncaster, close to Hatfield and Thorne. It has a population of 6,342.-Etymology:...

. The companies involved were the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...

 and the 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....

.
The WR&G gave the Great Northern Railway a new direct line to Wakefield from Doncaster on its north-south main line, and onwards to the Woollen District

Heavy Woollen District

The Heavy Woollen District is named because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured in an area of West Yorkshire, England. Dewsbury, Batley, Heckmondwike and Ossett are the core of the area. Liversedge, Gomersal, Gildersome, Birkenshaw, Mirfield, Cleckheaton, Morley, Tingley, East Ardsley, Birstall...

 towns and the cities of Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

 and Halifax

Halifax, West Yorkshire

Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...

 over the tracks of the former West Yorkshire Railway, which it acquired in 1865; whilst the M.S.& L.R. could offer connections to Grimsby, and its docks, and the seaside resort of Cleethorpes.

The line was inherited by the LNER in 1923, and today is still the main route for East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

 expresses to Leeds.

Route

The main line ran from Wakefield, the county town of the West Riding of Yorkshire, to Marshgate Junction, just north of Doncaster and the branch from Adwick Junction near Adwick-le-Street and Carcroft

Adwick railway station

Adwick railway station serves the communities of Adwick-le-Street and Carcroft, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England...

 to Stainforth Junction, just to the west of the present day Hadfield and Stainforth

Hatfield and Stainforth railway station

Hatfield and Stainforth railway station serves the Doncaster suburbs of Hatfield and Stainforth in South Yorkshire, England.The original station, known until the 1990s as "Stainforth and Hatfield" and was built in 1866 as a replacement for the South Yorkshire Railway's Stainforth when their line...

. There were also three further lines: a triangular junction was created at Adwick, opened in November 1866, which made it possible, should it be required, to run from Doncaster to Grimsby by this route; secondly a line from Hare Park Junction, near Wakefield, to 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...

 near to Wakefield Kirkgate

Wakefield 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...

, and lastly a connection to the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 at Oakenshaw Junction, south of Wakefield.

Opening

The main line was opened in February 1866 with intermediate stations at Sandal, Hare Park, Nostell, Hemsworth, South Elmsall and Adwick-le-Street and Carcroft. Since that time halts were opened at Hampole

Hampole railway station

Hampole railway station was situated on the main line of the West Riding and Grimsby Railway between Carcroft & Adwick-le-Street and South Elmsall. It was close by and served the village of Hampole, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England....

 and Bentley Crossing

Bentley Crossing Halt

Bentley Crossing Halt was a small railway station on the West Riding and Grimsby Railway line between Doncaster and Carcroft & Adwick-le-Street. It was a workmans halt built in 1914 to serve the community of Bentley, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England at the point where the main line crosses...

. One station was built on the "branch" line at Bramwith.

Modern times

New stations at Adwick, Bentley

Bentley (South Yorkshire) railway station

Bentley railway station is a railway station that serves Bentley, South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Wakefield Line and is managed by Northern Rail, who also provide all the passenger trains serving it...

, Sandal and Agbrigg

Sandal and Agbrigg railway station

Sandal and Agbrigg railway station serves the Wakefield suburbs of Sandal and Agbrigg in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Wakefield Line and is operated by Northern Rail.-History:...

 (30 November 1987) and Fitzwilliam

Fitzwilliam railway station

Fitzwilliam railway station is in the village of Fitzwilliam near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.The station is on the Wakefield Line operated by Northern Rail...

 (1 March 1982) have been opened as population shift has made these viable. South Elmsall

South Elmsall railway station

South Elmsall railway station serves the village of South Elmsall near Pontefract in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Wakefield Line operated by Northern Rail.-Services:...

 is the only original station but this has been extended and the Doncaster-bound (Up) platform rebuilt.