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Doncaster railway station

Coordinates: 53°31′21″N 1°08′22″W / 53.5225°N 1.1395°W / 53.5225; -1.1395
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Doncaster
National Rail
The frontage at Doncaster station in May 2008
General information
LocationDoncaster, South Yorkshire
England
Coordinates53°31′21″N 1°08′22″W / 53.5225°N 1.1395°W / 53.5225; -1.1395
Grid referenceSE571032
Managed byLondon North Eastern Railway
Transit authoritySouth Yorkshire
Platforms8
Tracks10
Other information
Station codeDON
Fare zoneDoncaster
ClassificationDfT category B
Passengers
2018/19Increase 3.918 million
 Interchange Increase 1.729 million
2019/20Increase 3.946 million
 Interchange Increase 1.767 million
2020/21Decrease 0.890 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.264 million
2021/22Increase 3.520 million
 Interchange Increase 1.011 million
2022/23Increase 3.635 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.987 million
Listed Building – Grade II
FeatureStation Booking Hall and Offices
Designated25 April 1988
Reference no.1193202[1]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Line-up of steam locomotives at Doncaster station in August 1953
Down Express departing in April 1957
A Deltic Class 55 locomotive no.55012 Crepello coupling to the Hull-London King's Cross train, July 1977

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]

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

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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.

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]
  • Main article: Doncaster rail crash (1947)
    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]
  • Main article: Doncaster rail crash (1951)
    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]

East Midlands Railway[26]

Grand Central[27]

Hull Trains[28]

London North Eastern Railway[29]

Northern Trains[30]

TransPennine Express[31]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
CrossCountry
Retford or
Newark Northgate 		  London North Eastern Railway
London – York/Newcastle/Edinburgh 		  York
Newark Northgate   London North Eastern Railway
London – Edinburgh/Scotland express 		  York
Retford or
Newark Northgate 		  London North Eastern Railway
London – Doncaster 		  Terminus
Grantham
or
Peterborough or
Retford 		  London North Eastern Railway
London – Leeds 		  Wakefield Westgate
Newark Northgate or
Grantham 		  London North Eastern Railway
London – Hull
One train per day 		  Selby
TerminusEast Midlands Railway
Retford   Hull Trains
London – Hull/Beverley 		  Selby
TransPennine Express
Northern
TerminusNorthern
Peterborough or London
King's Cross 		  Grand Central
West Riding 		  Pontefract Monkhill
or
Wakefield Kirkgate
  Future Services  
Sheffield   Northern Connect
Sheffield – Hull
   Hull
Sheffield   TBA
Northern Powerhouse Rail 		  Hull
  Historical railways  
Terminus   Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint   Bessacarr
Line open, station closed
Rossington
Line open, station closed 		  Great Northern Railway
East Coast Main Line 		  Arksey
Line open, station closed

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Historic England, "Station Booking Hall and Offices (1193202)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 July 2018
  2. ^ "Estimates of station usage". ORR Data Portal. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  3. ^ Batty 1991, p. 50.
  4. ^ "Drinking fountain, about 1957". Science and Society Picture Library. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  5. ^ Batty 1991, p. 19.
  6. ^ Porter, Derek; Chapman, Stephen (1997). Railway Memories No. 10: Doncaster. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. p. 8. ISBN 1-871233-09-7.
  7. ^ Batty 1991, pp. 107, 133.
  8. ^ "ON THIS DAY: 2006: New look Frenchgate Centre and interchange opens". The Star. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Russell; Tendler, Stewart (27 March 1997). "Security tightened as police warn of further attacks". The Times. No. 65848. p. 2. ISSN 0140-0460.
  10. ^ Green-Hughes, Evan (July 2021). "Doncaster Station". Hornby Magazine. No. 169. p. 119. ISSN 1753-2469.
  11. ^ "Doncaster to get a Platform 0 in £21m upgrade" The Railway Magazine issue 1371 June 2015 p. 81
  12. ^ Nigel Harris, ed. (24 June 2015). "Roll up, roll up for Doncaster's Platform 0". Rail. No. 777. p. 15. ISSN 0953-4563.
  13. ^ "WATCH: Incredible time-lapse footage of new bridge being installed at Doncaster rail station". Doncaster Free Press. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "Popular GNR Official". Lincolnshire Chronicle. England. 28 September 1855. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Mr Thomas Christopher". Hull Daily Mail. England. 21 April 1915. Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Doncaster Station-Master to Be Superintendent". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 19 August 1921. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ "Official Changes at the GNR". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 4 December 1922. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ^ "New Station-Master". Yorkshire Evening Post. England. 15 August 1933. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. ^ a b "Former Driffield Station Master Retiring". Driffield Times. England. 13 April 1946. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ Marshall, Sarah (12 December 2016). "Platform 0 opens at Doncaster train station". The Star. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  22. ^ East Coast Main Line Route Study (PDF). Network Rail. 1 June 2018. p. 32.
  23. ^ [1] Archived 28 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine p.66
  24. ^ Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 3. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
  25. ^ "CrossCountry December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  26. ^ "East Midlands Railway Doncaster-Peterborough via Lincoln Central December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Grand Central Timetables December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Hull Trains Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  29. ^ "London North Eastern Railway Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  30. ^ "Northern Trains Timetable December 2023-June 2024 Timetable". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  31. ^ "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.
[edit]

Media related to Doncaster railway station at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ^ https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/media/3150/download?inline
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