Starbeck railway station

Starbeck
Location
Place	Starbeck
Local authority	Harrogate
Coordinates	53°59′56″N 1°30′03″W / 53.9990°N 1.5007°WCoordinates: 53°59′56″N 1°30′03″W / 53.9990°N 1.5007°W
Grid reference	SE328560
Operations
Station code	SBE
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*
2010/11	0.161 million
2011/12	0.161 million
2012/13	0.167 million
2013/14	0.173 million
2014/15	0.173 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1848
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Starbeck from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Starbeck railway station is located in the eastern suburbs of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Harrogate Line 2.25 miles (3 km) east of Harrogate and is operated by Northern who provide all passenger train services.

Background

The station dates from 1 September 1848 and was the first to serve Harrogate, although intending passengers initially had to make the two and a half mile connection from the town centre on foot or by horse bus as the Leeds & Thirsk company had elected to take an easily graded route to the east rather than cross the Crimple Valley and serve the town itself. The line on to Ripon and Thirsk was opened the following July, with a further line to Knaresborough and York (courtesy of the East & West Yorkshire Junction Railway) being completed on 1 October 1851. However it was not until both concerns had been absorbed by the North Eastern Railway some years later that the issue of a link into the centre of Harrogate was addressed, with a route via Dragon Junction to a new central station (and on via Crimple Valley Viaduct to Pannal Junction) being commissioned on 1 August 1862.^[1] This new loop soon became the preferred route for most through traffic between Leeds and Teesside, leaving Starbeck to be served primarily by York trains although some freight and excursion traffic continued to use the original L&T line for many years thereafter.

Services on the old line to Pannal ended in October 1951,^[2] whilst the Leeds Northern main line to Ripon & Northallerton was closed to passengers in March 1967 and completely two years later.

The station at one time had canopies & substantial buildings, but these have been demolished. The signal box remains in use to supervise a busy level crossing.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, but has ticket machines available. Shelters and digital information screens are located on each platform - these are linked by a subway with ramps, so both have step-free access.^[3]

Services

During Monday to Saturday off-peak, there is a half-hourly service westbound to Leeds and a half-hourly service eastbound to Knaresborough with one train per hour onwards to York.^[4]

During evenings and on Sundays there is an hourly service in each direction.

There are proposals to create another station between Starbeck and Harrogate at Bilton.^[5]

Notes

1. Body, p. 160
2. Body, p. 109
3. Starbeck station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
4. GB eNRT December 2015, Table 35
5. http://www.harrogatechamber.org/harrogateline.htm

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

Media related to Starbeck railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Starbeck railway station from National Rail