Doncaster railway station

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Doncaster
National Rail
The frontage at Doncaster
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
Platforms9 (numbered 0–8)
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
At the station in 1953
Down Express departing in 1957
A Deltic locomotive coupling to the Hull-King's Cross train, July 1975

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[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.

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. These operators are the following:

CrossCountry
CrossCountry operates a very limited service. Weekdays see five southbound workings (the first four heading for Reading and the final to Birmingham New Street), and five northbound workings (three heading for Newcastle, and two to York). Saturdays see all five southbound workings heading to Reading and two northbound workings (both for Newcastle). Sundays sees four southbound workings (three for Plymouth) and only one northbound to York.[25]

East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway operates a local service to Lincoln and Peterborough from Doncaster. On a weekday, there are currently five northbound workings all starting from Peterborough, there are the same number of southbound services, all heading for Peterborough. On a Saturday there are five northbound services from Peterborough and five southbound services mostly to Peterborough with the first only going as far as Lincoln and the last as far as Sleaford. There is no Sunday service on this route.[26]

Grand Central
Grand Central operates services between Bradford Interchange and King's Cross. On weekdays and weekends there are four southbound services and four northbound service on this route. GC services on their King's Cross to Sunderland route pass fast through the station but may also call in the event of service disruption.

Hull Trains
Hull Trains operates services between London King's Cross and Hull or Beverley via Selby.

London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway offers regular (55 trains per day) services to London King's Cross, Leeds, Harrogate, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central.[27]

Northern Trains
Northern Trains generally offers local services from Doncaster to Sheffield, Leeds, Hull and Scarborough via Bridlington, plus some trains to/from Scunthorpe.[28]

TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express operates services eastbound to Cleethorpes, and westbound to Liverpool Lime Street, with some services terminating at or starting from Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Airport. TransPennine services operate hourly in each direction generally.[29]

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[edit]

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. ^ "Full Timetable" (PDF). CrossCountry Trains. 21 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Peterborough - Doncaster Timetable" (PDF). East Midlands Railway. 11 December 2022.
  27. ^ Table 20 National Rail timetable, December 2023
  28. ^ Table 21 & 28 National Rail timetable, December 2023
  29. ^ "Loading..." timetables.tpexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2023.

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

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