Pontefract Tanshelf railway station

Pontefract Tanshelf
The view from platform 1
Location
Place	Pontefract
Local authority	City of Wakefield
Coordinates	53°41′38″N 1°19′08″W / 53.694°N 1.319°WCoordinates: 53°41′38″N 1°19′08″W / 53.694°N 1.319°W
Grid reference	SE450221
Operations
Station code	POT
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	49,950
2011/12	48,718
2012/13	39,580
2013/14	38,944
2014/15	34,328
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone	3
History
1871	opened
2 January 1967	closed
12 May 1992	reopened
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.
UK Railways portal

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. 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 present station was opened by Metro (West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive) on 12 May 1992, when the line between Wakefield and Pontefract was re-opened.

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

Services

On Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly service to Wakefield Kirkgate and to Knottingley, but there are no trains to Tanshelf station on Sunday, despite the fact Pontefract Races have regular Sunday meetings throughout the spring and summer.^[1]

The original service used to run from Wakefield Westgate, but instead now starts from and terminates at Wakefield Kirkgate Station. Train services to Knottingley via Pontefract are timed to arrive and leave Kirkgate Station for connecting trains to Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford, and Leeds, for the benefit of shoppers, tourists, and racegoers. New Northern franchise operator Arriva Rail North plans to extend the service through to Westgate and on to Leeds once the new franchise agreement comes into effect in April 2016. A new two-hourly Sunday service will also be introduced.^[2]

References

1. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 32
2. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT

External links

Media related to Pontefract Tanshelf railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Pontefract Tanshelf railway station from National Rail

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