Pontefract Tanshelf railway station

Pontefract Tanshelf railway station is the most central station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, and serves Pontefract Races, the racecourse located just down the street from the station. It lies on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern and is 8 miles (13 km) east of Wakefield Kirkgate.[1] In the days of coal mining in the Pontefract area, the station served the needs of the local workforce with regular and frequent services timed for the beginning and the end of mining shifts. The station is the closest to the former Prince of Wales Colliery which closed in 2002.[2]

Pontefract Tanshelf
The view from platform 1
Location
PlacePontefract
Local authorityCity of Wakefield
Coordinates53.694°N 1.319°W / 53.694; -1.319
Grid referenceSE450221
Operations
Station codePOT
Managed byNorthern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 34,328
2015/16 32,508
2016/17 33,328
2017/18 28,414
2018/19 38,830
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEWest Yorkshire Metro
Zone3
History
17 July 1871opened as Tanshelf
December 1936Renamed Pontefract Tanshelf
2 January 1967closed
11 May 1992reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Pontefract Tanshelf from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The first station on the site was opened in July 1871 as Tanshelf, being renamed Pontefract Tanshelf in 1936.[3] It was closed in January 1967,[4] when the passenger services were diverted away from the direct line to Wakefield Kirkgate (via Featherstone, to serve Leeds via Castleford.[5] The present station was opened by West Yorkshire Metro on 11 May 1992, when the line between Wakefield Kirkgate and Pontefract Monkhill was reopened.

The other stations in the town are Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Baghill.[6]

A British Rail Class 142 at Tanshelf station in 2019

Unlike Pontefract Monkhill, both platforms of Tanshelf are wheelchair-accessible.

Services

On Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly service to Wakefield Kirkgate and Leeds and also hourly to Knottingley. On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service each way to the same destinations.

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References
  1. Padgett, David (2016). Railway track diagrams, book 2; Eastern (4 ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  2. Wainwright, Martin (31 August 2002). "Britain's oldest mine closes". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. Quick, Michael (2019). "Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales; a Chronology" (PDF). rchs.org.uk. p. 326. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. Haigh, AJ (2012). Railways in West Yorkshire : Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield & the West Riding : an illustrated general history of the railways in the West Riding from the grouping to the present time (2 ed.). Xpress Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-901056-44-0.
  5. Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Eastern Region. Wellingborough: P. Stephens. p. 143. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
  6. "Pontefract Turf Account". The Northern Echo. 13 March 2002. p. 3. ISSN 2043-0442.

Media related to Pontefract Tanshelf railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Northern
Pontefract Line
Mondays-Saturdays only


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