Commondale railway station

Commondale is a railway station on the Esk Valley Line, which runs between Whitby and Middlesbrough. The station serves the village of Commondale in North Yorkshire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Commondale
LocationCommondale, Scarborough
England
Coordinates54°28′52″N 0°58′30″W
Grid referenceNZ665100
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms1
Tracks1
Other information
Station codeCOM
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyNorth Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
May 1882Opened as Commondale Siding
1891Renamed Commondale
Passengers
2015/16 5,232
2016/17 3,754
2017/18 1,888
2018/19 2,344
2019/20 2,444
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The North Yorkshire & Cleveland Railway opened an extension line from Battersby to Grosmont in stages between 1858 and 1865.[1] Even though the line through Commondale was opened in April 1861, it would be some years before the North Eastern Railway furnished the remote dale with a station.[2] As the area was populated with small hamlets mostly engaged in agriculture, no station was provided immediately, but a siding was furnished for the Cleveland Fire Brick & Pottery Company (CFBaPC).[3] The CFBaPC attracted a workforce which led to a significant rise in the population, which in turn prompted a station to be built in 1891.[4][lower-alpha 1][5] Previous to this, a signal box had been installed to control the west facing branch to the brickworks and the junction was used to board passengers with the name of Commondale Siding being used as a station name.[6] Records indicate that in 1885, six years before Commondale was given full official station status, 3,555 passenger tickers were sold totalling a revenue of £99.[2][7]

Even with the increased population, passenger numbers were low and apart from the freight siding, the station did not handle any goods during its lifetime.[8] It did have several station masters (eight between 1891 and 1954) though they resided at the other station that they had responsibility for (Castleton Moor) from 1930 onwards.[7] The station became the first in the area to become an unstaffed halt; this was effective from 16 January 1950.[9]

The station is now on the Esk Valley Line and is just short of 18 miles (29 km) from Middlesbrough to the west, and 13 miles (21 km) from Whitby to the east.[10] The single platform, on the northern side of the line, has a single brick building, in the same style as other buildings in the hamlet, as opposed to stone built buildings at most other places on the line.[2][11]

Services
Route 5:
Esk Valley Line
 Middlesbrough
 James Cook
 Marton
 Gypsy Lane
 Nunthorpe
 Great Ayton
 Battersby
 Kildale
 Commondale
 Castleton Moor
 Danby
 Lealholm
 Glaisdale
 Egton
 Grosmont
Sleights
 Ruswarp
 Whitby

Following the September 2020 timetable change, Commondale is served by four trains per day towards Whitby, and four trains per day towards Nunthorpe and Middlesbrough.[12]

Notes
  1. Some sources state 1894 and 1895

References
  1. Bairstow 2008, p. 39.
  2. Whitworth, Alan (1998). Esk Valley Railway : a travellers' guide ; a description of the history and topography of the line between Whitby and Middlesbrough. Barnsley: Wharncliffe. p. 52. ISBN 1-871647-49-5.
  3. Maynard 2015, p. 62.
  4. Hoole, Ken (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 159. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
  5. Hoole, Ken (1983). Railways of the North York Moors : a pictorial history. Clapham: Dalesman Books. p. 21. ISBN 0-85206-731-3.
  6. 1891 North Eastern Railway Working Timetable at the Internet Archive
  7. Maynard 2015, p. 63.
  8. Bairstow 2008, p. 89.
  9. Bairstow 2008, p. 43.
  10. Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2016). Railway track diagrams. Book 2, Eastern (4 ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. 48. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  11. Whitworth, Alan (2011). Esk Valley railway through time. Stroud: Amberley. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4456-0645-3.
  12. "Train times: Middlesbrough to Whitby (Esk Valley Railway)" (PDF). Northern Trains. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.

Sources
  • Bairstow, Martin (2008). Railways around Whitby; volume one (4 ed.). Farsley: Bairstow. ISBN 978-1-871944-34-1.
  • Maynard, Peter (2015). North Yorkshire & Cleveland Railway. Northallerton: North Eastern Railway Association. ISBN 978-1-873513-98-9.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Kildale   Northern Trains
Esk Valley Line		   Castleton Moor
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