Normanton railway station

Normanton
Platform 1
Location
Place	Normanton
Local authority	City of Wakefield
Coordinates	53°42′02″N 1°25′25″W / 53.700490°N 1.423520°W / 53.700490; -1.423520Coordinates: 53°42′02″N 1°25′25″W / 53.700490°N 1.423520°W / 53.700490; -1.423520
Grid reference	SE381228
Operations
Station code	NOR
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*
2011/12	0.210 million
2012/13	0.240 million
2013/14	0.245 million
2014/15	0.249 million
2015/16	0.251 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Yorkshire Metro
Zone	3
History
Original company	North Midland Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
30 June 1840	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 Normanton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Normanton railway station serves the town of Normanton in West Yorkshire, England. It lies 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Leeds railway station on the Hallam Line, which is operated by Northern.

History

The original station was opened by the North Midland Railway (NMR) on 30 June 1840^[1] (this was one day before nearby Castleford Railway Station which opened on 1 July 1840) on their main line towards Leeds, creating an interchange station between the North Midland Railway (NMR), the York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) and the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) - establishing a three company junction.

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Normanton

It became the focus of several railway lines in the mid-19th century. Construction began in 1837 under the supervision of George Stephenson for the North Midland. This was soon followed by an addition from the York and Midland Railway and then by the Manchester and Leeds line which all joined at Normanton thereby giving the town access to much of the country. The NMR, already open between Derby and Rotherham (Masborough), was opened between Rotherham and Leeds (Hunslet Lane) on 1 July 1840,^[2] as was the Y&NMR between Normanton (on the NMR) and Burton Salmon (the line between Burton Salmon and York already being open).^[3] The M&LR route between Normanton and Hebden Bridge followed, opening on 5 October 1840,^[4] and on 1 March 1841, the final section of the M&LR route to Manchester was opened.^[5] The Leeds and Manchester lines crossed a 51 miles (82 km) stretch across the Pennines and at the time boasted the world's longest railway station platform at Normanton – a quarter of a mile (400m) long.

In Victorian times Normanton station was one of the most important stations in northern England and can boast that Queen Victoria stopped over in The Station Hotel. The town also served as an important part of the transport infrastructure for national and local industries including coal and bricks, although most of this was lost during the 1950s and 1960s with the last remaining operational brickworks eventually closing in the mid-nineties. There were three brickworks in town and were all built within the small area known as Newland, taking advantage of the abundance of clay from the area. A fourth works was founded in the 1890s by a man named Thomas Kirk from Nottingham who had heard rumours that Normanton was rapidly turning into an important junction on the railways. Both Kirk and his sons used their life savings and formed the Normanton Brick Company at nearby Altofts which is still in operation today.

'Jubilee' Class 4-6-0 'Leander' at Normanton in 1961

The station lost many of its services in the aftermath of the Beeching Report, with both express and local trains on the NMR main line ceasing to call in 1968^[6] and trains to York ending in 1970, leaving only Hallam Line trains to serve the station. The NMR was closed completely in 1988 south of the former Goose Hill Junction (where it diverged from the M&L line to Wakefield) although part of the route further south remains open to serve a glassworks at Monk Bretton, near Barnsley. This has led to much of the railway infrastructure here becoming redundant and being removed - the main buildings have been demolished, the sidings and goods lines lifted, the bay platforms filled in and the main island shortened considerably. The old Station Hotel still stands, but it has been converted into residential apartments.^[7]

Pedestrian crossing at the end of platform 2. Now replaced by a footbridge.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, but a self-service ticket machine is provided (located near the footbridge) to allow passengers to purchase tickets before boarding or collect pre-paid tickets. There are two waiting shelters, along with digital display screens, timetable posters and an automated announcement system to offer train running information. Step-free access to both platforms is available via ramps on the footbridge from the entrance and car park.^[8]

Services

On Mondays to Saturdays the station enjoys an hourly service to Leeds via Castleford and to Sheffield via Wakefield Kirkgate, with extra trains during peak times. On Sundays there is a two-hourly service each way.^[9]

Notes

↑ About Wakefield - Normanton
↑ Ellis, Cuthbert Hamilton (1961) [1953]. The Midland Railway (4th ed.). Hampton Court: Ian Allan. p. 7. 940/554/125 1059.
↑ Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 61. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.
↑ Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 48. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
↑ Marshall 1969, p. 49
↑ Body, p. 138
↑ Normanton railway station in 2007 Russell, Ian Geograph.org; Retrieved 20 January 2017
↑ Normanton station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 20 January 2017
↑ Table 34 National Rail timetable, December 2016

References

Body, G. (1988), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 1-85260-072-1

External links

Train times and station information for Normanton railway station from National Rail
Photo of the station in 1985, prior to the demolition of the main buildings

Preceding station	National Rail	Following station
Wakefield Kirkgate	Northern Hallam Line	Castleford
Historical railways
Oakenshaw Line closed, station closed	Midland Railway North Midland Railway	Altofts and Whitwood Line open, station closed

Railway stations in West Yorkshire
Lists	List of busiest railway stations in West Yorkshire
MetroTrain lines	■ Airedale ■ Calder Valley ■ Dearne Valley ■ Hallam ■ Harrogate ■ Huddersfield ■ Leeds–Bradford ■ Penistone ■ Pontefract ■ Wakefield ■ Wharfedale
City of Bradford	Apperley Bridge Baildon Ben Rhydding Bingley Bradford Forster Square Bradford Interchange Burley-in-Wharfedale Crossflatts Frizinghall Ilkley Low Moor Keighley Menston Saltaire Shipley Steeton and Silsden
Calderdale	Brighouse Halifax Hebden Bridge Mytholmroyd Sowerby Bridge Todmorden Walsden
Kirklees	Batley Berry Brow Brockholes Deighton Denby Dale Dewsbury Honley Huddersfield Lockwood Marsden Mirfield Ravensthorpe Shepley Slaithwaite Stocksmoor
City of Leeds	Bramley Burley Park Cottingley Cross Gates East Garforth Garforth Guiseley Headingley Horsforth Kirkstall Forge Leeds Micklefield Morley New Pudsey Woodlesford
City of Wakefield	Castleford Featherstone Fitzwilliam Glasshoughton Knottingley Moorthorpe Normanton Outwood Pontefract Baghill Pontefract Monkhill Pontefract Tanshelf Sandal and Agbrigg South Elmsall Streethouse Wakefield Kirkgate Wakefield Westgate
Outside West Yorkshire, but within the West Yorkshire Metro area	Cononley Darton Skipton

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