Knaresborough railway station

Railway station in North Yorkshire, England

Knaresborough

View of the platforms from the railway crossing

General information
Location| Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
England
Coordinates| 54°00′32″N 1°28′13″W﻿ / ﻿54.0090°N 1.4703°W﻿ / 54.0090; -1.4703
Grid reference| SE348571
Managed by| Northern Trains
Platforms| 2
Other information
Station code| KNA
Classification| DfT category F1
History
Original company| East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
Pre-grouping| North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping| London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
30 October 1848| Temporary station opened at Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough
21 July 1851| Permanent Knaresborough station opened
Passengers
2018/19|  0.411 million
2019/20|  0.439 million
2020/21|  0.117 million
2021/22|  0.387 million
2022/23|  0.464 million

Listed Building – Grade II

Feature| Knaresborough Station
Designated| 12 March 1986
Reference no.| 1277673[1]

Notes

Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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 Trains, who provide all passenger train services.

## Location[edit]

The station is located at the north-eastern end of the Knaresborough Viaduct off Station Road to the north-west side of Knaresborough town centre. The station is within walking distance of the town centre and the western side of Knaresborough.

## History[edit]

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]

View south-west with distinctive signal box

In 1865 the North Eastern Railway replaced the 1851 station with a new one designed by Thomas Prosser.[4] The station was rebuilt c.1890.[5] The 1851 water tower is still extant.[6]

Beyond the platforms eastbound is 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]

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.

## Facilities[edit]

The station is unstaffed, but has a single ticket machine available on platform 1. 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.[12] 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[edit]

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; the estimated cost for the Harrogate Line was £93 million, with a projected cost-benefit ratio of 1/1.80. No implementation date has been set however.[13]

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.[14]

## Services[edit]

All week, there is a half-hourly service between Leeds and York (eastbound).[15] Additional services run between Leeds and Knaresborough during weekday peak periods.

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

Preceding station  |  National Rail | Following station

|
|

Starbeck

| | Northern Trains

Harrogate Line

| |

Cattal

Terminus

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Historic England (12 March 1986). "Knaresborough Station (1277673)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
2. ^ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 125\. CN 8983.
3. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 116, 136. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
4. ^ Fawcett, Bill (2001), A History of North Eastern railway Architecture, vol. 1: The Pioneers, North Eastern Railway Association, p. 138, ISBN 1873513348
5. ^ a b Historic England (12 March 1986). "Signal Box at Knaresborough Station (1248970)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
6. ^ Historic England (29 July 1999). "Water Tower at Knaresborough Station (1387760)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
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 (12 December 1985). "South Portal of Railway Tunnel (1315608)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
10. ^ Historic England (12 December 1985). "North Portal to Railway Tunnel (1149912)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
11. ^ "Knaresborough Signal Box". www.signalbox.org. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
12. ^ Knaresborough station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
13. ^ "Harrogate reacts to rail electrification news". Halifax Courier. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
14. ^ Windham, Dan (27 October 2015). "North Yorkshire take first step for Harrogate". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
15. ^ "Northern Trains Leeds-York via Harrogate Timetable June 2024-December 2024" (PDF).

## External links[edit]

* Griffith, Roger (2017) Video footage of Knaresborough railway station, YouTube

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Knaresborough railway station.

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

* v
* t
* e

Railway stations in North Yorkshire

| Dearne Valley Line|

* York
* Ulleskelf
* Church Fenton
* Sherburn-in-Elmet → Sheffield

|

Durham Coast Line|

* Middlesbrough
* Thornaby → Newcastle

East Coast Main Line|

* London King's Cross → York
* Thirsk
* Northallerton → Edinburgh Waverley

Esk Valley Line|

* Middlesbrough
* James Cook
* Marton
* Gypsy Lane
* Nunthorpe
* Great Ayton
* Battersby
* Kildale
* Commondale
* Castleton Moor
* Danby
* Lealholm
* Glaisdale
* Egton
* Grosmont
* Sleights
* Ruswarp
* Whitby

Harrogate Line|

* York
* Poppleton
* Hammerton
* Cattal
* Knaresborough
* Starbeck
* Harrogate
* Hornbeam Park
* Pannal
* Weeton → Leeds

Hull to Scarborough Line|

* Hull Paragon → Hunmanby
* Filey
* Seamer
* Scarborough

Leeds to Morecambe Line|

* Leeds → Skipton
* Gargrave
* Hellifield
* Long Preston
* Giggleswick
* Clapham
* Bentham → Morecambe

Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line|

* Northallerton
* Yarm → Eaglescliffe

Selby Line|

* Leeds → South Milford
* Selby → Hull Paragon

Settle to Carlisle Line|

* Leeds → Skipton
* Gargrave
* Hellifield
* Long Preston
* Settle
* Horton-in-Ribblesdale
* Ribblehead → Carlisle

Tees Valley Line|

* Bishop Auckland → Thornaby
* Middlesbrough
* South Bank
* Redcar Central
* Redcar East
* Longbeck
* Marske
* Saltburn

York to Scarborough Line|

* York
* Malton
* Seamer
* Scarborough

Heritage railways

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway|

* Embsay
* Holywell Halt
* Bolton Abbey

North York Moors Railway|

* Grosmont
* Goathland
* Newton Dale Halt
* Levisham
* Pickering

Wensleydale Railway|

* Northallerton West
* Scruton
* Leeming Bar
* Bedale
* Finghall
* Leyburn
* Redmire

* Station usage in North Yorkshire

* v
* t
* e

Railway stations in Borough of Harrogate

National Rail|

* Cattal
* Hammerton
* Harrogate
* Hornbeam Park
* Knaresborough
* Pannal
* Starbeck
* Weeton

Disused stations|

* Birstwith
* Boroughbridge
* Copgrove
* Dacre
* Darley
* Goldsborough
* Hampsthwaite
* Harrogate (Brunswick)
* Hopperton
* Knaresborough Hay Park Lane
* Lofthouse-in-Nidderdale
* Melmerby
* Nidd Bridge
* Pateley Bridge (NER)
* Pateley Bridge (NVLR)
* Ramsgill
* Ripley Valley
* Ripon
* Spofforth
* Wath-in-Nidderdale
* Wormald Green

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