Seamer railway station

Seamer railway station serves the village of Seamer in North Yorkshire, England. It lies near the end of the Scarborough branch on the TransPennine Express North TransPennine route, 39 miles (63 km) east of York at its junction with the northern end of the Yorkshire Coast Line. Seamer station is managed by TransPennine Express, with services being run by both Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.

Seamer
The station, viewed from the platforms
Location
Place	Seamer
Local authority	Scarborough
Coordinates	54.2405°N 0.4171°W / 54.2405; -0.4171
Grid reference	TA032839
Operations
Station code	SEM
Managed by	TransPennine Express
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.111 million
2015/16	0.128 million
2016/17	0.138 million
2017/18	0.147 million
2018/19	0.145 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1845 (1845)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Seamer from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

North TransPennine
3:53 Edinburgh Waverley ( St Andrew Sq.) 2:34 Morpeth 2:14 Newcastle 2:07 Chester-le-Street 2:00 Durham 1:47 Darlington 2:35 Redcar Central 2:21 Middlesbrough 2:13 Thornaby 2:02 Yarm 1:37 Northallerton 1:34 Thirsk 2:03 Scarborough 1:53 Seamer 1:36 Malton 1:12 York 1:54 Hull 1:36 Brough 1:30 Gilberdyke 1:24 Howden 1:18 Selby 1:09 South Milford 1:08 Garforth 0:48 Leeds 1:04 Cottingley 1:01 Morley 0:47 Batley 0:40 Dewsbury 0:46 Ravensthorpe 0:43 Mirfield 0:38 Deighton 0:29 Huddersfield 0:28 Slaithwaite 0:27 Marsden 0:19 Greenfield 0:17 Mossley 0:13 Stalybridge 0:00 Manchester Victoria 0:02 Manchester Oxford Road 0:00 Manchester Piccadilly 0:06 East Didsbury 0:08 Gatley 0:14 Manchester Airport 0:16 Newton-le-Willows 0:20 Lea Green 0:38 Liverpool Lime Street Times shown are best times from Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Victoria.

The station is actually sited between the communities of Eastfield and Crossgates, about one mile from Seamer. It took the name of Seamer since there was already a Cross Gates railway station in West Yorkshire.

History

Seamer station was opened on 7 July 1845[1] by the York and North Midland Railway and became a junction station when a branch line to Filey was opened the following year (5 October 1846). Its island platform configuration was chosen to make it easier for passengers to change between the two routes here rather than continuing into Scarborough to do so. A second branch line from the station (the Forge Valley Line to Pickering) was opened by the NER on 1 May 1882 - the station subsequently underwent improvements (including the construction of a second signal box and an additional passenger line & platform) in 1911 to accommodate the extra traffic.

The Forge Valley line was never particularly busy and it was an early victim of road competition, closing to passengers on 5 June 1950 (less than three years after the nationalisation of the railway system). The track was lifted by 1953 and the additional platform and slow line here was removed soon afterwards.[2] The former station house on the down (eastern) side next to the level crossing (which has been pedestrian only since the late 1980s) still stands, though no longer in rail usage (now a private residence).

Facilities

The station currently only has basic facilities, such as a large shelter on the island platforms, as well as passenger information screens towards the middle of the platforms. The station is unstaffed, but a ticket machine is provided. Step-free access to the platform is via a foot level crossing at the north end - this is supervised from the nearby signal box.[3]

Services

TransPennine Express

From Seamer Monday to Saturdays there are up to two trains per hour eastbound to Scarborough and westbound generally an hourly TransPennine Express service to York, Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street.[4]

On Sundays there is an hourly service to York, Leeds and Liverpool Lime Street.

Northern Trains

Northern Trains operates an hourly service to Bridlington and Hull on the Yorkshire Coast Line. On Sundays, these continue to Doncaster and Sheffield.[5] From the next timetable change in December 2019, these will also do so on weekdays and Saturdays.

Until Northern Rail took over in 2004, Arriva Trains Northern did have services that stopped at Seamer, the current York to Blackpool service used to continue to Scarborough alongside TransPennine Express services. This service was usually worked by a Metro liveried Class 158 DMU, occasionally a Class 155 DMU. There was also a local service from York to Scarborough usually worked by a Pacer DMU or a Class 156.

The new TransPennine & Northern franchises (which started in April 2016) will see service frequency and rolling stock improvements implemented on both routes - the Hull line will have an hourly frequency throughout the week (now implemented),[6] whilst the York line will have two trains per hour on weekdays (one Northern, one TPE) and an hourly service on Sundays. Trains to Liverpool will continue, but they will be diverted via Manchester Victoria and St Helens Junction.[7] The change to TPE routing took effect in 2018, but Northern's plans for a York service are currently on hold due to a shortage of rolling stock.[8]

Route

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Malton		TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Scarborough
Filey		Northern Trains Yorkshire Coast Line		Scarborough
	Historical railways
Terminus		Forge Valley Line		Forge Valley
Ganton Station closed; Line open		Y&NMR York to Scarborough Line		Scarborough Londesborough Road Station closed; Line open
Cayton Station closed; Line open		Y&NMR Hull to Scarborough Line		Scarborough Londesborough Road Station closed; Line open

References

1. Body, p. 149
2. Disused Stations - Seamer Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 23 June 2017
3. Seamer station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 8 December 2016
4. Table 39 National Rail timetable, May 2018
5. Table 43 National Rail timetable, May 2019
6. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT
7. TransPennine Franchise Improvements - DfTDepartment for Transport
8. "New train service for Malton and Norton delayed" Dunning, D Minster FM news article 15 October 2019; Retrieved 19 November 2019

• Body, G. (1988), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 1-85260-072-1

External links

• Train times and station information for Seamer railway station from National Rail