Woodlesford railway station

Woodlesford railway station serves a suburban village of Woodlesford and a town of Rothwell in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Hallam Line and the Pontefract Line, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Leeds.

Woodlesford
Platform 2 in 2011, with the new footbridge from platform 1
General information
Location	Woodlesford, City of Leeds England
Coordinates	53.7570°N 1.4435°W / 53.7570; -1.4435
Grid reference	SE368290
Managed by	Northern
Transit authority	West Yorkshire Metro
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WDS
Fare zone	2
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Opened	1 July 1840
Passengers
2018/19	0.329 million
2019/20	0.309 million
2020/21	54,774
2021/22	0.165 million
2022/23	0.203 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, but a self-service ticket machine is provided to allow passengers to buy before travelling or collect advance purchase tickets. The platforms are staggered either side of the (now disused) foot crossing, with the Leeds-bound platform the more northerly of the two. Waiting shelters, timetable posters and digital CIS displays are provided on each platform, with automated announcements also offered to give train running information. Step-free access is available to both platforms (via the ramps on the footbridge for platform 2).^[1]

Service

Monday to Saturdays there is a half-hourly service to Leeds and an hourly service to Sheffield on the Hallam Line and hourly towards Knottingley on the Pontefract Line.^[2] A single through train to Goole runs in the evening.

Sundays, there is an hourly service to Leeds and train every two hours to Sheffield and Knottingley respectively.

The view from platform 2 in June 2006. The pedestrian crossing was replaced by a new footbridge in 2010.

History

The station was opened on 1 July 1840 and formed part of the original North Midland Railway from Derby to Leeds built by George Stephenson.^[3] During the early 20th century, coal trains from the nearby Water Haigh colliery provided regular goods traffic, as did the Armitage Quarries and Bentley's Yorkshire Brewery which had their own sidings. Parcels headed for the nearby town of Rothwell were unloaded here.

For much of its life, the station had a Midland Railway building on the northbound platform that housed the booking hall, waiting room and station master's office, along with a signal box (dating from 1899) at the end of the southbound platform. Both were demolished in the early 1970s - the former in 1971 (after the station had been downgraded to an unmanned halt the previous year) and the latter after its abolition in January 1972.^[4]

Platform 2 seen from the end of platform 1 in June 2006 prior to the construction of the footbridge

In late 2010 a footbridge was erected at the station to replace the crossing.^[5]

Accidents and incidents

In 1850, a train was in a rear-end collision with an excursion train at the station. The cause was a signal not being lit at night.^[6]

References

1. Woodlesford station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 19 January 2017
2. GB eNRT, May 2019 Edition, Table 32 & 34
3. Pixton, B., (2000) North Midland: Portrait of a Famous Route, Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing
4. Woodlesford - The Story of a Station woodlesfordstation.co.uk; Retrieved 19 January 2017
5. Samuel, A. (27 January 2011). "Woodlesford bridge opens to improve pedestrian safety". Retrieved 9 June 2011.
6. Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 26. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.

External links

• Train times and station information for Woodlesford railway station from National Rail
• The Story of Woodlesford Station http://www.woodlesfordstation.co.uk

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Castleford		Northern Hallam Line		Leeds
		Northern Pontefract Line
	Historical railways
Methley Line open; station closed		North Midland Railway Midland Railway		Leeds City Line open; station open