Doncaster railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is 155 miles 77 chains (251 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between Retford and York on the main line. It is managed by London North Eastern Railway. It is the second busiest station in South Yorkshire (after Sheffield), and the fourth busiest station in Yorkshire & the Humber.[2]
Doncaster  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The frontage at Doncaster station in May 2008 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Doncaster, South Yorkshire England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°31′21″N 1°08′22″W / 53.5225°N 1.1395°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SE571032 | ||||
| Managed by | London North Eastern Railway | ||||
| Transit authority | South Yorkshire | ||||
| Platforms | 9 (numbered 0–8) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | DON | ||||
| Fare zone | Doncaster | ||||
| Classification | DfT category B | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2018/19 |  3.918 million | ||||
| Interchange | 1.729 million | ||||
| 2019/20 | 3.946 million | ||||
| Interchange | 1.767 million | ||||
| 2020/21 |  0.890 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.264 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 3.520 million | ||||
| Interchange | 1.011 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 3.635 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.987 million | ||||
Listed Building – Grade II | |||||
| Feature | Station Booking Hall and Offices | ||||
| Designated | 25 April 1988 | ||||
| Reference no. | 1193202[1] | ||||
| |||||
It is a major passenger interchange between the main line, Cross Country Route and local services running across the North of England. It is also the point for which London North Eastern Railway services branching off to Leeds diverge from the main route continuing north towards Edinburgh.
History edit
The railway station was built in 1850 replacing a temporary structure constructed two years earlier, located some 450 yards (410 m) further south.[3][4] Between 1850 and 1873 the station had two main platforms, with loops to each platform diverting off the main running lines.[5] It was rebuilt in its present form in 1938, where the platform on the townside of the station (the eastern side) was converted into an island platform thereby creating a fourth through running line.[6] The station has had several slight modifications since that date - in 1976, a project to refurbish the passenger facilities was completed at a cost of £125,000, and in 2006, the new interchange and connection to Frenchgate Centre opened.[7][8] The station was evacuated and services on the East Coast Main Line stopped in March 1997 due to a bomb hoax called in by the IRA. Actual bombs were left at Wilmslow railway station in Cheshire on the same day.[9]
In May 2015, construction commenced on a new Platform 0 to the north-east of the station adjacent to the Frenchgate Centre on the site of the former cattle dock. It is used by terminating Northern Trains services to Hull, Beverley, Bridlington and Scarborough.[10] This allowed these services to operate independently of the East Coast Main Line.[11][12] It is joined to the rest of the station via a fully accessible overbridge.[13]
Station Masters edit
- G.R.H. Mullins 1849 – 1855[14] (afterwards stationmaster at Boston)
- William Ruxton ca. 1863
- David Greenwood ???? – 1877
- James Bradford 1877 – 1878
- Charles Ratchelous 1878 – 1885
- James L. Rayner 1885 – 1892[15]
- George Bolt ca. 1892 – 1896
- William Henry Lindsey 1896 – 1915
- Thomas Christopher 1915[16] – 1917 (formerly station master at Hatfield)
- Fred Warriner 1917 – 1921[17]
- Mr. Trotter 1921 – 1922[18]
- George Herbert Gregory 1923 – 1933[19]
- E.H. Fowler 1933 – 1937[20]
- Edwin Oliver Wright 1937 – 1940[20]
- R.P. Haw 1940
- J.E. Fisher ca. 1951
Platforms edit
The station has nine platforms on three islands. Platforms 1, 3, 4 and 8 can take through trains. Platforms 2 and 5 are south-facing bays; platforms 0, 6 and 7 are north facing bays. A first class lounge is available on platform 3A.
- Platform 0 is used to take almost exclusively Northern Trains services to and from Hull, Beverley and Bridlington. The brand new platform opened on 12 December 2016.[21]
- Platform 1 is used by southbound London North Eastern Railway, Grand Central and Hull Trains services to London King's Cross.
- Platform 2 has no scheduled trains.
- Platform 3A is used by London North Eastern Railway, Grand Central and Hull Trains services to London King's Cross
- Platform 3B is used by Northern Trains services to Sheffield and TransPennine Express services to Manchester Piccadilly
- Between platforms 3 and 4 are the high speed up and down lines to/from London
- Platform 4 is used by northbound London North Eastern Railway services to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh, Grand Central services to Bradford Interchange, Hull Trains services to Hull, Northern Trains through services to Bridlington and Scarborough and TransPennine Express services to Cleethorpes. Southbound CrossCountry services towards Birmingham New Street also use this platform.
- Platform 5 is a bay platform used by East Midlands Railway services to Lincoln and Northern Trains services to Sheffield
- Platform 6 is a bay platform used by Northern Trains services to Leeds.
- Platform 7 is seldom in public use, but is used by Northern Trains services to Scunthorpe when it is.
- Platform 8 is used by northbound London North Eastern Railway services towards Leeds; CrossCountry services to Newcastle; and Northern Trains services in both directions – southbound to Sheffield and northbound to Adwick and Scunthorpe. Services towards Birmingham New Street also use this platform.
There were plans to add platforms 9 and 10 to cope with Eurostar trains but this project was cancelled when it was decided that Eurostar would not serve Britain outside the South East of England.
There are presently no ticket barriers in operation at this station; however, on race days at Doncaster Racecourse, manual ticket checks are in operation in the subway.
The station was refurbished in 2006 and is now directly connected to the Frenchgate Centre extension in Doncaster town centre. The station now has a new booking office for tickets and information, three new lifts, refurbished staircases and subway. There is a newsagent and some food outlets. More recently, interactive touch screens have been installed around the station by London North Eastern Railway services to provide information about local attractions, live departures and disruptions and station facilities. In addition, mobile phone charging points are now available on the concourse, touch screen and self-service ticketing machines have been installed across the concourse; the stairways to the subway have now been divided into two way systems to improve the flow of passengers during peak times.
In a route study by Network Rail, it was proposed that new platforms could be built on the western side of the station to meet expected demand in the future.[22]
In March 2019, it was revealed that there were plans, as part of the East Coast improvement programme in Control Period 6, to add an additional platform at Doncaster.[23]
Accidents and incidents edit
- On 9 August 1947, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision with another due to a signalman's error. 18 people were killed and 188 were injured.[24]
- On 16 March 1951, a derailment occurred south of the station in which 14 passengers were killed and 12 seriously injured.
Services edit
Seven train operating companies call at Doncaster, which is the highest number of companies in the UK and is also equal in number only to Crewe, and Edinburgh Waverley in the UK. Their off-peak weekday service patterns are as follows:
CrossCountry[25]
- 6 tpd to York, of which:
- 4 tpd continue to Newcastle Central, via Darlington and Durham
- 4 tpd to Reading via Derby, Birmingham New Street and Oxford
- 1 tpd to Birmingham New Street via Sheffield and Derby
East Midlands Railway[26]
- 5 tpd to Peterborough via Gainsborough Lea Road, Lincoln Central and Sleaford
Grand Central[27]
- 4 tpd to London King's Cross (3 tpd non-stop, 1 tpd via Peterborough)
- 4 tpd to Bradford Interchange via Wakefield Kirkgate, Mirfield and Halifax (2 tpd calling at Pontefract Monkhill)
Hull Trains[28]
- 7 tpd to London King's Cross via Retford and Grantham
- 7 tpd to Hull Paragon via Selby, Howden and Brough, of which:
- 2 tpd continue to Beverley via Cottingham
London North Eastern Railway[29]
- 3 1/2tph to London King's Cross, of which:
- 1 tp2h slow via Retford
- 3 tph semi-fast
- 2 tph to Leeds via Wakefield Westgate, of which:
- 1 tph to Edinburgh Waverley via York, Darlington and Newcastle Central, of which:
- 1 tpd continues to Glasgow Central via Haymarket and Motherwell
- 1 tpd to Hull Paragon via Selby and Brough
Northern Trains[30]
- 2 tph to Sheffield, of which:
- 1 tph slow via Mexborough, Rotherham Central and Meadowhall Interchange
- 1 tph semi-fast via Meadowhall Interchange
- 1 tp2h to Scunthorpe via Kirk Sandall, Crowle and Althorpe
- 2 tph to Hull Paragon Interchange, of which:
- 1 tph continues to Scarborough via Beverley, Bridlington and Seamer, and operates semi-fast to Hull Paragon
- 1 tph to Adwick via Bentley
- 1 tph to Leeds via Adwick, Fitzwilliam and Wakefield Westgate
TransPennine Express[31]
- 1 tph to Liverpool Lime Street via Sheffield, Manchester Piccadilly and Warrington Central
- 1 tph to Cleethorpes via Scunthorpe, Barnetby and Grimsby Town
See also edit
- Listed buildings in Doncaster (Town Ward)
- Joan Croft Halt railway station (North Doncaster Chord project)
- Doncaster Works – a locomotive works adjacent to the station.
References edit
- ^ Historic England, "Station Booking Hall and Offices (1193202)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 July 2018
- ^ "Estimates of station usage". ORR Data Portal. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ Batty 1991, p. 50.
- ^ "Drinking fountain, about 1957". Science and Society Picture Library. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ Batty 1991, p. 19.
- ^ Porter, Derek; Chapman, Stephen (1997). Railway Memories No. 10: Doncaster. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 8. ISBN 1-871233-09-7.
- ^ Batty 1991, pp. 107, 133.
- ^ "ON THIS DAY: 2006: New look Frenchgate Centre and interchange opens". The Star. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- ^ Jenkins, Russell; Tendler, Stewart (27 March 1997). "Security tightened as police warn of further attacks". The Times. No. 65848. p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ Green-Hughes, Evan (July 2021). "Doncaster Station". Hornby Magazine. No. 169. p. 119. ISSN 1753-2469.
- ^ "Doncaster to get a Platform 0 in £21m upgrade" The Railway Magazine issue 1371 June 2015 p. 81
- ^ Nigel Harris, ed. (24 June 2015). "Roll up, roll up for Doncaster's Platform 0". Rail. No. 777. p. 15. ISSN 0953-4563.
- ^ "WATCH: Incredible time-lapse footage of new bridge being installed at Doncaster rail station". Doncaster Free Press. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^ "Changes in the Situation of Station-master at the Boston Station". Lincolnshire Chronicle. England. 28 September 1855. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Popular GNR Official". Lincolnshire Chronicle. England. 28 September 1855. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Mr Thomas Christopher". Hull Daily Mail. England. 21 April 1915. Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Doncaster Station-Master to Be Superintendent". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 19 August 1921. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Official Changes at the GNR". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 4 December 1922. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "New Station-Master". Yorkshire Evening Post. England. 15 August 1933. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Former Driffield Station Master Retiring". Driffield Times. England. 13 April 1946. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Marshall, Sarah (12 December 2016). "Platform 0 opens at Doncaster train station". The Star. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ East Coast Main Line Route Study (PDF). Network Rail. 1 June 2018. p. 32.
- ^ [1] Archived 28 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine p.66
- ^ Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 3. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
- ^ "CrossCountry December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "East Midlands Railway Doncaster-Peterborough via Lincoln Central December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Grand Central Timetables December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Hull Trains Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "London North Eastern Railway Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Northern Trains Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "TransPennine Express South Route Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
Sources edit
- Batty, Stephen R. (1991). Rail Centres: Doncaster. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2004-3.
External links edit
Media related to Doncaster railway station at Wikimedia Commons
- Train times and station information for Doncaster railway station from National Rail