- Pontefract Line
The Pontefract Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. The service is operated by
Northern Rail , and linksWakefield andLeeds withGoole viaPontefract . The Metro timetable for the Line also includes services operated as theDearne Valley Line betweenYork andSheffield via Pontefract.The Line, which passes through the former mining areas to the east of Wakefield and Castleford, has the greatest number of stations opened by the West Yorkshire Metro. MetroCards are available on the route as far as
Knottingley : a limited service of trains continues toGoole by this route.The route
History
Railways in the area opened as follows:
*1848 : the "Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway", [27 miles (43km)] in length, opened. This line passed through and served Knottingley, which was then producing some 65 000 tons of burnt lime a year, mainly used for agricultural and building purposes
* February1854 the Great Northern Railway (GNR) andLancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) jointly administeredKnottingley station.
* August1850 : Knottingley to Burton Salmon line opened. Trains were able to run from London to York via Knottingley, which was the station to change to and from trains into the heart of the West Riding, and so it became a major junction.
* May1882 : The "Swinton and Knottingley Railway", connectingSheffield and York via Pontefract, opened in May 1879;Ferrybridge station opened on the same date.Before the 1923 Grouping the lines over which the service operates were owned by:
* Leeds -Methley :Midland Railway (MidR)
* Methley - Pontefract (Monkhill) - Goole: L&YR
* Wakefield Westgate station was joint GNR)/L&YR
* Wakefield - Pontefract (Monkhill): L&YRDescription of route
Leeds-Goole
Trains using the Pontefract Line from Leeds use the same route as the
Hallam Line to "Methley Junction":
*Woodlesford
* here is "Methley Junction", where lines of the MidR, L&YR and the Great Northern Railway (GNR) converged.
*Castleford (also on theHallam line )
*Glasshoughton (opened 21 February 2005)
* Pontefract Monkhill: junction with Wakefield line
*Knottingley : joint L&YR/GNR station. The Dearne Valley Railway has a junction at this point; there is also theAskern Branch Line forDoncaster
* Whitley Bridge
* Hensall: here were junctions for theHull and Barnsley Railway (HBR); and a joint GCR/HBR line
*Snaith
* Rawcliffe
* GooleWakefield-Pontefract
The Wakefield service joins the Leeds service at Pontefract; the station served for this section are:
* Wakefield Westgate (also served by the Huddersfield and Wakefield lines): the station was jointly owned by GCR and GNR; to the south was the "West Riding and Grimsby Joint Railway" (also owned by those companies)
* Wakefield Kirkgate (most trains start & finish here rather than running to/from Westgate due to congestion on the busy main line to Doncaster)
* leaving Wakefield there were a large number of junctions between there and Crofton
* there were two stations on this line serving Crofton andSharlston
*Streethouse
*Featherstone
* Pontefract Tanshelf
* Pontefract Monkhill where the Leeds line joinsExternal links
* [http://www.wymetro.com/TrainTravel/MetroTrainTimetablesAndRoutes/PontefractLine.htm Pontefract Line including map]
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