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, who provide all passenger train services.

Knaresborough
The station in 2014 looking towards the tunnel
Location
PlaceKnaresborough
Local authorityHarrogate
Coordinates54.0090°N 1.4703°W / 54.0090; -1.4703
Grid referenceSE348571
Operations
Station codeKNA
Managed byNorthern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.354 million
2015/16 0.349 million
2016/17 0.383 million
2017/18 0.386 million
2018/19 0.411 million
History
Original companyEast and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
30 October 1848Temporary station opened at Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough
21 July 1851Permanent Knaresborough station opened
Listed status
Listed featureKnaresborough Station
Listing gradeGrade II listed
Entry number1277673[1]
Added to list12 March 1986
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Knaresborough from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
View SW with distinctive signal box

Location

The station is located at the northern side of the Nidd Viaduct off Station Road to the South West side of Knaresborough town centre. The station is within walking distance of the town centre and the western side of Knaresborough.

History
British Rail Class 141 arriving at the station in 1992.
See also: East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway

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 design by Thomas Prosser.[4] The station was rebuilt c.1890.[5] The 1851 Water tower is still extant.[6]

Beyond the platforms eastbound was 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]

A plaque unveiled by the late Malcolm Hayton in 1998 celebrating the extension of the railway from York to Knaresborough 150 years previously.

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.

Station Masters
  • William John Walker
  • John Musham ???? - 1877 - 1897[12]
  • John G. Masterman 1897[13] - 1902 (formerly station master at Market Weighton)
  • James Naylor 1902[14] - ???? (formerly station master at Seamer)
  • John Dobson ca. 1910 - 1930[15]
  • Thomas Wailes 1930 - 1933[16] (formerly station master at Seamer)
  • Thomas H. Walls 1933[17] - 1936 (formerly station master at Aysgarth and Askrigg)
  • Frederick Godfrey 1937 - 1953[18]
  • E. Leaman 1953 - 1960 (formerly station master at Helmsley)
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, but has ticket machines available. 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.[19] 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

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; with an estimated cost for the Harrogate Line of £93 million with a projected cost benefit ratio of 1/1.80. No date has been set however.[20]

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.[21]

Services

During Monday to Saturday off-peak, there is a half-hourly service to Leeds (westbound) and an hourly service to York (eastbound).[22] 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.

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References
  1. Historic England. "Knaresborough Station (1277673)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 125. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 116, 136. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. Fawcett, Bill (2001), A History of North Eastern railway Architecture, 1: The Pioneers, North Eastern Railway Association, p. 138, ISBN 1873513348
  5. Historic England. "SIGNAL BOX AT KNARESBOROUGH STATION (1248970)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  6. Historic England. "WATER TOWER AT KNARESBOROUGH STATION (1387760)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. Historic England. "SOUTH PORTAL OF RAILWAY TUNNEL (1315608)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  10. Historic England. "NORTH PORTAL TO RAILWAY TUNNEL (1149912)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  11. "Knaresborough Signal Box". www.signalbox.org. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  12. "Mr. John Masham". Hull Daily Mail. England. 1 June 1897. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Mr. John G. Masterman". Hull Daily Mail. England. 27 July 1897. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "The directors of the North-Eastern Railway Company...". Yorkshire Evening Post. England. 30 September 1902. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "Northern Items". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 2 April 1930. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "46 years on the LNER". Leeds Mercury. England. 15 April 1933. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Knaresborough's Stationmaster". Leeds Mercury. England. 18 May 1933. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "Station master retires". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 14 February 1953. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. Knaresborough station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
  20. "Harrogate reacts to rail electrification news". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  21. Windham, Dan (27 October 2015). "North Yorkshire take first step for Harrogate". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  22. Table 35 National Rail timetable, December 2019
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Starbeck   Northern
Harrogate Line		   Cattal
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