Knaresborough railway station

Knaresborough
The station in 2014 looking towards the tunnel
Location
Place	Knaresborough
Local authority	Harrogate
Coordinates	54°00′32″N 1°28′13″W / 54.0090°N 1.4703°WCoordinates: 54°00′32″N 1°28′13″W / 54.0090°N 1.4703°W
Grid reference	SE348571
Operations
Station code	KNA
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.303 million
2011/12	0.326 million
2012/13	0.331 million
2013/14	0.340 million
2014/15	0.354 million
History
Original company	East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
30 October 1848	Temporary station opened at Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough
21 July 1851	Permanent Knaresborough station opened
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.
UK Railways portal

View SW with distinctive signal box

Knaresborough railway station is a 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.

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 in walking distance from the town centre and the Western side of Knaresborough.

History

British Rail Class 141 arriving at the station in 1992.

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.^[1][2]

In 1865 the North Eastern Railway replaced the 1851 station with a design by Thomas Prosser.^[3] The station was rebuilt c.1890.^[4] The 1851 Water tower is still extant.^[5]

Related features

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,^[6] 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.^[7] The tunnel is still extant with both north and south portals are now listed structures.^[8][9]

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.^[4][10] - 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.

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.^[11]

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.^[12]

Services

During Monday to Saturday off-peak, there is a half-hourly service to Leeds (westbound) and an hourly service to York (eastbound).^[13]

During evenings and on Sundays, there is an hourly service in each direction.

References

1. Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 125. CN 8983.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 116, 136. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. Fawcett, Bill (2001), A History of North Eastern railway Architecture, 1: The Pioneers, North Eastern Railway Association, p. 138, ISBN 1873513348
4. Historic England. "SIGNAL BOX AT KNARESBOROUGH STATION (1248970)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
5. Historic England. "WATER TOWER AT KNARESBOROUGH STATION (1387760)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
6. 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.
7. 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
8. Historic England. "SOUTH PORTAL OF RAILWAY TUNNEL (1315608)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
9. Historic England. "NORTH PORTAL TO RAILWAY TUNNEL (1149912)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
10. "Knaresborough Signal Box". www.signalbox.org. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
11. "Harrogate reacts to rail electrification news". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
12. Windham, Dan (27 October 2015). "North Yorkshire take first step for Harrogate". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
13. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 35

External links

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