Pontefract Tanshelf railway station

Pontefract Tanshelf railway station is the most central station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, and serves Pontefract Races, the racecourse located just down the street from the station. It lies on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern and is 8 miles (13 km) east of Wakefield Kirkgate.[1] In the days of coal mining in the Pontefract area, the station served the needs of the local workforce with regular and frequent services timed for the beginning and the end of mining shifts. The station is the closest to the former Prince of Wales Colliery which closed in 2002.[2]

Pontefract Tanshelf
The view from platform 1
LocationPontefract, City of Wakefield
England
Coordinates53.694°N 1.319°W / 53.694; -1.319
Grid referenceSE450221
Managed byNorthern
Transit authorityWest Yorkshire Metro
Platforms2
Other information
Station codePOT
Fare zone3
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
17 July 1871opened as Tanshelf
December 1936Renamed Pontefract Tanshelf
2 January 1967closed
11 May 1992reopened
Passengers
2015/16 32,508
2016/17 33,328
2017/18 28,414
2018/19 38,830
2019/20 53,538
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The first station on the site was opened in July 1871 as Tanshelf, being renamed Pontefract Tanshelf in 1936.[3] It was closed in January 1967,[4] when the passenger services were diverted away from the direct line to Wakefield Kirkgate (via Featherstone, to serve Leeds via Castleford.[5] The present station was opened by West Yorkshire Metro on 11 May 1992, when the line between Wakefield Kirkgate and Pontefract Monkhill was reopened.

The other stations in the town are Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Baghill.[6]

A British Rail Class 142 at Tanshelf station in 2019

Unlike Pontefract Monkhill, both platforms of Tanshelf are wheelchair-accessible.

Services

On Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly service to Wakefield Kirkgate and Leeds and also hourly to Knottingley. On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service each way to the same destinations.

References
  1. Padgett, David (2016). Railway track diagrams, book 2; Eastern (4 ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  2. Wainwright, Martin (31 August 2002). "Britain's oldest mine closes". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. Quick, Michael (2019). "Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales; a Chronology" (PDF). rchs.org.uk. p. 326. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. Haigh, AJ (2012). Railways in West Yorkshire : Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield & the West Riding : an illustrated general history of the railways in the West Riding from the grouping to the present time (2 ed.). Xpress Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-901056-44-0.
  5. Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Eastern Region. Wellingborough: P. Stephens. p. 143. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
  6. "Pontefract Turf Account". The Northern Echo. 13 March 2002. p. 3. ISSN 2043-0442.

Media related to Pontefract Tanshelf railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Northern
Mondays-Saturdays only


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