Mexborough railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Mexborough
Place	Mexborough
Local authority	Doncaster
Operations
Station code	MEX
Managed by	Northern Rail
Platforms in use	2
Annual entry/exit 02/03	0.187 million *
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* based on sales of tickets in 2002/03 financial year which end or originate at Mexborough. Disclaimer (PDF)

Mexborough station is in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, England. It is on the former South Yorkshire Railway's Barnsley to Doncaster line, rebuilt in its present position when the line to Sheffield Victoria was opened.

[edit] History

The original Mexborough station, known as "Mexborough Junction" because of its proximity to the junction with the North Midland line at Swinton, was situated about 600 m. west of the present station on the South Yorkshire Railway's Barnsley to Doncaster line, at that time the only line through the town. This station was opened in January 1850 and closed on 4th March 1871. Shortly afterwards a branch line was built alongside the canal to serve the pottery at Kilnhurst. The South Yorkshire Railway was absorbed into the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and they saw through plans to make this pottery branch part of a through line to Sheffield Victoria via Rotherham Central. Mexborough was also served by another railway halt at this time, known as Mexborough (Ferry Boat) Halt.

[edit] The Present Station

As the original Mexborough station did not serve this new line it replaced by a new station built immediately on the Doncaster side of the junction. It was on 1st June 1874 that the third side of the triangle (Mexborough Reverse Curve) was put in place which allowed trains to work from the Sheffield line to Barnsley without need of reversal. This was closed on 5th September 1966.

The Barnsley to Doncaster local passenger services were withdrawn in 1959 and further changes in the area took place with the opening of Aldwarke Junction in 1966. From this date all passenger trains to Sheffield were routed to Sheffield Midland, until its closure in January 1968 via the Swinton curve and afterwards via the Great Central route through the closed Kilnhurst Central. Nowadays the service operates via the re-instated curve to the new Swinton .

Mexborough also once had a third platform which, in effect, made the Sheffield bound platform an "island" platform. This was used occasionally for regular passenger services travelling via the Great Central line to Sheffield but more often by excursion trains to the East Coast resorts, Scarborough, Bridlington and Cleethorpes being the most popular. Other "one-off" excursions starting their journey from Mexborough also made use of the platform: in 1963 an "Inter-Grammar Schools Sports Special" consisting of 16 coaches hauled by doubled headed Mexborough based ex-L.N.E.R. "B-1" locomotives took Mexborough Grammar School pupils, in support of their team, to Maltby, a long closed station on the South Yorkshire Joint Railway. This platform face ceased to be used in the late 1970s .

As part of the South Yorkshire Pasenger Transport Executive's 4-year plan for the ungrading of the railways in the county Mexborough received an upgraded waiting area and ticket office which were completed in May 1989.