York railway station

York
Location
Place	York
Local authority	City of York
Coordinates	53°57′30″N 1°05′35″W / 53.9583°N 1.0930°WCoordinates: 53°57′30″N 1°05′35″W / 53.9583°N 1.0930°W
Grid reference	SE596517
Operations
Station code	YRK
Managed by	Virgin Trains East Coast
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	11
DfT category	A
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	7.173 million
– Interchange	0.730 million
2011/12	7.581 million
– Interchange	1.203 million
2012/13	7.721 million
– Interchange	1.179 million
2013/14	8.223 million
– Interchange	1.190 million
2014/15	8.586 million
– Interchange	1.386 million
History
1877	Opened
1909	Extended
1938	Footbridge Built
1947	Repaired
2008-9	Refurbished
2014-15	Refurbished
Listed status
Listing grade	II*
Entry number	1256554[1]
Added to list	1 July 1968
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at York from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

York railway station is the main-line railway station serving the city of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on Britain's East Coast Main Line (ECML), 188.5 miles (303 km) from London. Originally it was part of the North Eastern Railway.

Despite the small size of the city, York is one of the most important railway stations on the British railway network because of its role as a key railway junction approximately halfway between London, the capital of England, and Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is few miles north of the point where the Cross Country and TransPennine Express routes via Leeds leave/join the ECML connecting Scotland and the North East with southern England, the North West and the Midlands. The junction was historically a major site for rolling stock manufacture, maintenance and repair.

History

The first York railway station was a temporary wooden building on Queen Street outside the walls of the city, opened in 1839 by the York and North Midland Railway. It was succeeded in 1841, inside the walls, by what is now York old railway station. In due course, the irksome requirement that through trains between London and Newcastle needed to reverse out of the old York station to continue their journey necessitated the construction of a new through station outside the walls. This was the present station, designed by the North Eastern Railway architects Thomas Prosser and William Peachey, which opened in 1877. It had 13 platforms and was at that time the largest station in the world. As part of the new station project, the Royal Station Hotel (now The Royal York Hotel), designed by Peachey, opened in 1878.

York station in the early 20th Century

In 1909 new platforms were added, and in 1938 the current footbridge was built and the station resignalled.

The building was heavily bombed during the Second World War.^[2] On one occasion, on 29 April 1942,^[3] 800 passengers had to be evacuated from a Kings Cross-Edinburgh train which arrived during a bombing raid.^[2] On the same night, two railway workers were killed, one being station foreman William Milner (born 1900^[3]), who died after returning to his burning office to collect his first aid kit. He was posthumously awarded the King's commendation for gallantry.^[3] A plaque in his memory has been erected at the station.^[2][3] The station was extensively repaired in 1947.

The station was designated as a Grade II* listed building in 1968.^[1]

The track layout through and around the station was remodelled again in 1988 as part of the resignalling scheme that was carried out prior to the electrification of the ECML shortly afterwards. This resulted in several bay platforms (mainly on the eastern side) being taken out of service and the track to them removed. At the same time a new signalling centre (York IECC) was commissioned on the western side of the station to control the new layout and also take over the function of several other signal boxes on the main line. The IECC here now supervises the main line from Temple Hirst (near Doncaster) through to Northallerton, along with sections of the various routes branching from it. It has also (since 2001–2) taken over responsibility for the control area of the former power box at Leeds and thus signals trains as far away as Gargrave and Morley.

In 2006–7, to improve facilities for bus, taxi and car users as well as pedestrians and cyclists, the approaches to the station were reorganised. The former motive power depot and goods station now house the National Railway Museum.

Station management transferred from Virgin Trains East Coast to Network Rail on the 30 June 2015.^[4]

The station in 2010

Accidents and incidents

• On 31 March 1920, a passenger train was derailed as it entered platform 8.^[5]
• On 5 August 1958, a passenger train crashed into the buffers at platform 12.^[5]

Layout

All the platforms except 9, 10 and 11 are under the large, curved, glass and iron roof. They are accessed via a long footbridge (which also connects to the National Railway Museum) or via lifts and either of two pedestrian tunnels.^[6] Between April 1984 and 2011 the old tea rooms housed the Rail Riders World/York Model Railway exhibition.^[7]

Major renovation

The station was renovated in 2009. Platform 9 has been reconstructed and extensive lighting alterations were put in place. New automated ticket gates (similar to those in Leeds) were planned, but the City of York Council wished to avoid spoiling the historic nature of the station. The then operator National Express East Coast planned to appeal the decision but the plans were scrapped altogether upon handover to East Coast.^[8]

Recent developments

The southern side of the station has been given new track and signalling systems. An additional line and new junction was completed in early 2011. This work has helped take away one of the bottlenecks on the East Coast Main Line.^[9]

The station has also become the site of one of Network Rail's modern Rail Operation Centres, which opened in September 2014 on land to the west of the station^[10] This took over the functions of the former IECC in January 2015 and will eventually control much of the East Coast Main Line from London to the Scottish border and various subsidiary routes across the North East, Lincolnshire and South, North & West Yorkshire.

Platforms

South-facing station approach

The platforms at York have been renumbered several times, the most recent being in the late 1980s to coincide with a reduction in the number of platforms from 15 to 11. The current use is:^[11]

• Platform 1: South-facing bay platform mostly used for services to Hull or Sheffield via Moorthorpe and for stabling empty stock.
• Platform 2: North-facing bay platform connected only to the Scarborough branch, used mostly for stabling a spare TransPennine Express unit (along with the accompanying station siding).
• Platform 3: Main southbound platform (but is signalled bi-directionally), accessible directly from the station concourse. Fast and semi-fast southbound Virgin Trains East Coast for London King's Cross generally use this platform. Also, CrossCountry services, Grand Central and some westbound TransPennine Express services also use it.
• Platform 4: Northward continuation of platform 3 connected only to the Scarborough branch, used by TransPennine Express services from Scarborough.
• Platform 5: (Split into 5a and 5b) Main northbound platform (but is signalled bi-directionally). Fast northbound Virgin Trains East Coast services to Scotland use this and generally call at Darlington and Newcastle Central only. Accessible by footbridge or tunnel. Also used by some CrossCountry services northbound. North/eastbound TransPennine Express to Scarborough generally use this platform along with summer Saturday-only East Midlands Trains services to Scarborough. Southbound Virgin Trains East Coast services also stop here both fast and semi-fast, the latter of which generally call at Doncaster, Newark, Peterborough and London King's Cross.
• Platform 6: South-facing bay platform used mostly by Northern commuter services to Leeds and Blackpool North and by terminating Virgin Trains East Coast services that return south to London King's Cross, and on non-summer Saturdays by East Midlands Trains services to London St. Pancras.
• Platform 7: South-facing bay platform used mostly by Northern commuter services, Virgin Trains East Coast services to/from London King's Cross starting/terminating at York, and non-summer Saturday services by East Midlands Trains to London St. Pancras.
• Platform 8: North-facing bay platform used almost exclusively by Northern trains on the Harrogate Line.
• Platforms 9, 10, 11: Bi-directional platforms used by semi-fast Virgin Trains East Coast services heading north to Newcastle and Scotland (but also some fast services), CrossCountry services north and southbound via Leeds, TransPennine Express services westbound to Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport and northbound to Newcastle Central and Middlesbrough. Some Northern services to Blackpool also use this platform.

Platforms 10 and 11 exist outside the main body of the station. Another siding (the former fruit dock) exists opposite Platform 11.

Services

York railway station from the air

The arched roof over the platforms

Replica zero post for ten lines of the North Eastern Railway.

The station is operated by Virgin Trains East Coast and is used by the following train operating companies:

Virgin Trains East Coast

Virgin Trains East Coast operates to London as well as many services northbound to Newcastle and Edinburgh. In addition, there are infrequent services to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. The fastest southbound services run non-stop to London, completing the 188 mile journey in 1 hour and 52 minutes.^[12]

Rolling stock used: Inter-City 225 (Class 91 electric locomotive and DVT) and Inter-City 125 (HST)

CrossCountry

CrossCountry provides a number of services that run across the country, running as far north as Aberdeen and south as Penzance and Southampton Central via Birmingham New Street:^[13] Rolling stock used: Class 220, Class 221 'Voyager' diesel multiple units and Inter-City 125 (HST)

East Midlands Trains

East Midlands Trains provides one weekend return journey between York and London St Pancras via the Midland Main Line, as well as one summer Saturday journey to/from Scarborough:^[14] Rolling stock used: Class 222 Meridian diesel multiple units, and very rarely on Railtours Intercity 125.

TransPennine Express

TransPennine Express provides a number of express services across the north of England (to Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street, Newcastle, Scarborough & Middlesbrough):^[15] Rolling stock used: Class 185 "Pennine" diesel multiple units

Grand Central

Grand Central runs an open access service between Sunderland and London:^[16] Rolling stock used: Inter-City 125 (HST) and Class 180

Northern

Northern provides a number of commuter services to: Leeds, Blackpool North, Hull and other destinations.^[17] Rolling stock used: Sprinter (Class 150/153/155/156/158) and Pacer (Class 142/144) diesel multiple units

References

1. Historic England. "Railway Station (1256554)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
2. "Yorkshire". How We Won the War. Series 1. Episode 4. 27 September 2012. BBC. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
3. Plaque #10489 on Open Plaques, Retrieved 6 October 2012.
5. Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. pp. 24, 42. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
6. "York Station Plan". National Rail. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
7. "Model Railway heading to Lincolnshire after 27 years at York Station". Scunthorpe Telegraph. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2015. York Model Railway is making tracks to Lincolnshire after 27 years in its current home. The tea rooms at York Station have been host to the exhibition since its inception
8. "East Coast Main Line Company Pledges to improve Services and Invest for the Future" (Press release). East Coast. 13 November 2009. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
9. "Faster trains and more services at York" (Press release). Network Rail. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
10. Network Rail’s biggest ROC opens in YorkRail Technology Magazine, 16 September 2014; Retrieved 8 September 2015
11. NRE - York Station PlanNational Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 13 June 2016
12. Table 26 National Rail timetable, May 2016
13. "Train Timetables". CrossCountry Trains. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
14. "Train Timetables". East Midlands Trains. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
15. "Our Timetables". First TransPennine Express. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
16. "Sunderland timetable". Grand Central. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
17. "Travel Tools – Timetables – York". Northern Rail. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

Further reading

• "York facelift". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. March 1983. p. 49. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.

External links

• Train times and station information for York railway station from National Rail
• Historic England. "Details from image database (464767)". Images of England.
• Images of England details of Old Station
• The Railway Revolution – on 'History of York' website
• Winchester, Clarence, ed. (18 April 1935), "Famous Railway Centres 1: York", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 375–380, description of the station in the 1930s