Pontefract Baghill railway station

Pontefract Baghill railway station is one of the three railway stations that serve the market town of Pontefract in West Yorkshire, England. The other stations, Monkhill and Tanshelf, both lie on the Pontefract line, while Baghill lies on the Dearne Valley line 21+1⁄4 miles (34 km) south of York towards Sheffield.

Pontefract Baghill
View from Platform 2 with a train towards Sheffield in August 2006
General information
Location	Pontefract, City of Wakefield England
Coordinates	53.692°N 1.303°W / 53.692; -1.303
Grid reference	SE461219
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	West Yorkshire Metro
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	PFR
Fare zone	3
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Opened	1 July 1879
Passengers
2019/20	10,206
2020/21	2,768
2021/22	11,800
2022/23	9,638
2023/24	15,676
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (lower right) railways in the vicinity of Pontefract Baghill (shown here as S & K Jnt)

The station was opened together with the Ferrybridge to Moorthorpe section of the Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway. Public passenger train services began on 1 July 1879, freight traffic had already started by then. The design of the station followed basic principles of the North Eastern Railway, it was, however, larger than the other stations opened on the line at the same time.^[1] Pontefract Baghill was also once linked to the Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole main line by means of a short chord to Pontefract Monkhill near the intersection of the two lines as shown on the accompanying RCH map. This connection closed in November 1964,^[2] but the bay platform it once used at the northern end can still be made out. Two short curves north of the station near Ferrybridge connect the Dearne Valley Line to the western end of Knottingley station westbound and the eastern end of Monkhill station (both on the Pontefract Line), but are now only in use for freight and diverted passenger services.

In the Strategic Rail Authority's 2002/3 financial year, only 15 people bought tickets for journeys from Pontefract Baghill station, and 21 bought tickets for journeys ending there,^[3] making it the sixth least busy station in the United Kingdom at that time. The annual usage in recent years is still considerably lower than that of Monkhill and Tanshelf stations.

Facilities

Pontefract Baghill railway station in July 1987

View of Platform 2 from Platform 1

The station has very basic amenities – it is unstaffed and has no ticketing provision of any kind, so anyone travelling from here needs to buy their ticket on the train or in advance of travel. The only other facilities offered are bench seating, a public telephone and timetable information posters (the old main building still stands but is in private use). Step-free access is available to both platforms.^[4] Neither platform has any shelter; though it is possible to wait under the passage in the former station building on the York bound platform.

Services

British Rail Class 142 en route to Sheffield in July 2019

All services at Pontefract Baghill are operated by Northern Trains.

As of May 2023, the station is served by a limited service of three trains per day in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays only which run northbound to York and southbound to Sheffield.^[5][6]

No train service calls at the station on Sundays and the station is instead served by a single rail replacement bus service in each direction between York and Moorthorpe.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Moorthorpe		Northern Trains Dearne Valley line		Sherburn-in-Elmet