Wakefield Westgate railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A morning Midland Mainline service for London St Pancras arrives at Wakefield Westgate
Wakefield Westgate
Location
Place	Wakefield
Local authority	City of Wakefield
Operations
Station code	WKF
Managed by	GNER
Platforms in use	2
Annual entry/exit 04/05	1.760 million **
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone	3
History
1867	Opened
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 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Wakefield Westgate. Disclaimer (PDF)

Wakefield Westgate is the mainline railway station for the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the edge of the main city centre, on the opposite side from Wakefield's other station, Kirkgate.

[edit] Services using Westgate

The station is managed by GNER, with services running south to Doncaster, Peterborough and London King's cross and services running northh to Leeds and Bradford Forster Square.

There is generally an hourly (half-hourly during peak times) service from Wakefield to London which takes approximately just over 2 hours for the 283 km (175 mile) journey. The service is well used by people from the Wakefield district for travel to the capital.

The station is also served by Virgin Trains, Northern Rail and Midland Mainline. Virgin Trains operate their Cross Country services to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow in the north and services to Birmingham, Bournemouth and the South West of England.

Northern Rail operate services north to Leeds and south to Doncaster and Sheffield as part of the Wakefield Line and then services to Selby via Wakefield Kirkgate, Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford Interchange and Leeds. On a night there are also trains as part of the Pontefract Line towards Knottingley which go via Wakefield Kirkgate.

Midland Mainline services from Leeds to London St Pancras via either Derby or Nottingham however there are only up to three departures per day (all early morning) from Leeds and up to four late afternoon/evening return trips from St Pancras.

This is principally because the main maintenance depot for the Midland Mainline HST power cars is the Maintrain depot at Neville Hill in Leeds. This provides a limited but useful service between West Yorkshire and the East Midlands. Midland Mainline had serious plans for a regular service between St Pancras and Leeds via Nottingham and the Erewash Valley but these were rejected by the (then) Strategic Rail Authority.

[edit] Station Information

The station is manned, with an information kiosk, ticket office, and a shop. Vending machines sell snacks and drinks on the station platform. There is a taxi waiting point outside the station, and a cashpoint.

The station originally opened in 1867 but has been rebuilt in the 1960's. Over the years Westgate has become the main station in the city. There are plans to regenerate the entire Westgate area of Wakefield, with the station being moved back down the line to allow for longer platforms to enable two trains to use the platforms at once. This means that express trains will be able to pull into the station as local trains terminate or stop, therefore enhancing the passenger capabilities and train numbers the station can manage.

The station entrance

Platform 2 - For north bound trains

In the Strategic Rail Authority's 2002/3 financial year, the station was the 193rd busiest in the country with over 1.451 million passengers arriving or departing at the station.

[edit] External links

Train times and station information for Wakefield Westgate railway station from National Rail
Street map and aerial photo of Wakefield Westgate railway station from Multimap.com

Preceding station		Following station
Doncaster	GNER East Coast Main Line	Leeds
Sheffield or Doncaster	Virgin Cross Country Route	Leeds
Meadowhall or Doncaster	Midland Mainline	Leeds
Sandall and Agbrigg	Northern Rail Wakefield Line	Outwood
terminus	Northern Rail Huddersfield Line	Wakefield Kirkgate