Knaresborough railway station
Knaresborough railway station is a Grade II listed[1] station serving the town of Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Harrogate Line 16.75 miles (27 km) west of York and is operated by Northern Trains, who provide all passenger train services.
The station in 2014 looking towards the tunnel | |
| General information | |
| Location | Knaresborough, North Yorkshire England |
| Coordinates | 54°00′32″N 1°28′13″W / 54.0090°N 1.4703°W |
| Grid reference | SE348571 |
| Managed by | Northern Trains |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | KNA |
| Classification | DfT category F1 |
| History | |
| Original company | East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway |
| Pre-grouping | North Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 30 October 1848 | Temporary station opened at Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough |
| 21 July 1851 | Permanent Knaresborough station opened |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 | 0.411 million |
| 2019/20 | 0.439 million |
| 2020/21 | 0.117 million |
| 2021/22 | 0.387 million |
| 2022/23 | 0.464 million |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Feature | Knaresborough Station |
| Designated | 12 March 1986 |
| Reference no. | 1277673[1] |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
Location edit
The station is located at the north-eastern end of the Knaresborough Viaduct off Station Road to the north-west side of Knaresborough town centre. The station is within walking distance of the town centre and the western side of Knaresborough.
History edit
The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway (E&WJR) was opened from York (Poppleton Junction) to a temporary terminus known as Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough on 30 October 1848. The E&WYJR was absorbed by the York and North Midland Railway on 1 July 1851. Three weeks later, with the completion of the stone viaduct crossing the River Nidd at Knaresborough on 21 July 1851, the temporary station was closed and a new Knaresborough station opened on the current site just beyond the stone viaduct.[2][3]
In 1865 the North Eastern Railway replaced the 1851 station with a new one designed by Thomas Prosser.[4] The station was rebuilt c.1890.[5] The 1851 water tower is still extant.[6]
Beyond the platforms eastbound is a tunnel which separated the station from the goods yard (now a bus depot) and the line's major junction. The Knaresborough to Boroughbridge branch (1875–1950 for passengers,[7] 1964 for goods) diverged from the main line to York opposite the goods yard. This line continued north-east until it met the East Coast Main Line between York and Northallerton at Pilmoor.[8] The tunnel is still extant with both north and south portals are now listed structures.[9][10]
The station signal box (built 1890) is somewhat unusual in that it was built onto the end of an adjoining row of terraced houses on Kirkgate.[5][11] It supervises the single line section eastwards to Cattal, an adjacent level crossing and a crossover that is used to reverse those trains from Leeds that terminate here.
Facilities edit
The station is unstaffed, but has a single ticket machine available on platform 1. The station buildings on the eastbound platform are in private commercial use – one of these is a cafe (sited in the old booking office) that is open to the public. Both platforms have shelters and are linked by subway and the level crossing.[12] Step-free access is via separate entrances to each platform. A long-line P.A. system and passenger information screens are in place to provide train running details.
Future edit
On 5 March 2015, the Harrogate Line, amongst others in the area including the Leeds-Bradford Interchange-Halifax Line, the Selby-Hull Line and the Northallerton-Middlesbrough Line, were named top priority for electrification; the estimated cost for the Harrogate Line was £93 million, with a projected cost-benefit ratio of 1/1.80. No impementation date has been set however.[13]
Money has been set aside for the doubling of the single line sections between Knaresborough and York. This will allow capacity improvements along the whole line. The projected completion date for this work is 2018.[14]
Services edit
During Monday to Saturday off-peak, there is a half-hourly service to Leeds (westbound) and an hourly service to York (eastbound).[15] Additional services run during weekday peak periods.
During evenings there is an hourly service in each direction, whilst on Sundays (from mid-morning) there are two trains per hour to Leeds and one to York.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Trains | ||||
| Terminus | ||||
References edit
- ^ a b Historic England (12 March 1986). "Knaresborough Station (1277673)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 125. CN 8983.
- ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 116, 136. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ^ Fawcett, Bill (2001), A History of North Eastern railway Architecture, vol. 1: The Pioneers, North Eastern Railway Association, p. 138, ISBN 1873513348
- ^ a b Historic England (12 March 1986). "Signal Box at Knaresborough Station (1248970)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England (29 July 1999). "Water Tower at Knaresborough Station (1387760)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Daniels, Gerald David; Dench, Leslie Alan (May 1973) [1964]. Passengers No More (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 67. ISBN 0-7110-0438-2. OCLC 2554248. 1513 CEC 573.
- ^ Wignall, C.J. (1983), Complete British Railways Maps and Gazetteer from 1830–1981 (First ed.), Oxford Publishing Company, Poole, p. 38, ISBN 0-86093-162-5
- ^ Historic England (12 December 1985). "South Portal of Railway Tunnel (1315608)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England (12 December 1985). "North Portal to Railway Tunnel (1149912)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "Knaresborough Signal Box". www.signalbox.org. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
- ^ Knaresborough station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
- ^ "Harrogate reacts to rail electrification news". Halifax Courier. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Windham, Dan (27 October 2015). "North Yorkshire take first step for Harrogate". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
- ^ Table 35 National Rail timetable, December 2019
External links edit
- Griffith, Roger (2017) Video footage of Knaresborough railway station, YouTube
- Train times and station information for Knaresborough railway station from National Rail