Ulleskelf railway station
Ulleskelf railway station in Ulleskelf, North Yorkshire, England, is 8.75 miles (14 km) south of York. HistoryThe station opened on 29 May 1839 on the York and North Midland Railway near where it crossed the River Wharfe.[1] It appears to have been redesigned and slightly relocated following the construction of the bridge carrying New Road (the B1223) over the tracks: the first station building was either adjacent and at right angles to the Ulleskelf Arms public house, or directly across the track from the pub on West End Road.[2] Neither of these buildings survives. A 1888 survey shows the station in its current position on the south side of the new road bridge,[3] with a new access road from the east end of the bridge across Hall Garth to the junction of Main Street and a newly-extended Church Fenton Lane, alongside a goods yard built on the site which was a plant nursery on the 1849 map. Further evidence of this change in layout is the terrace called Station Cottages on Main Street at the junction of Church Fenton Lane, now some 200m north of, and out of sight of, the modern station. The station avoided the Beeching Axe in the mid 1960s due to the poor road network in the area (there being no easily accessible road bridge over the river for York-bound commuters).[4] Today the station is unstaffed with all trains operated by Northern. Though there are four tracks, the island platform only serves the eastern pair. Accidents and incidents
ServicesEighteen trains call at Ulleskelf on weekdays and Saturdays, with the majority in the morning and afternoon peak periods. Nine of these run to York northbound and three each to Sheffield via Pontefract Baghill, to Leeds (with one of those continuing to Blackpool North) and to Hull (with one of those continuing to Bridlington) southbound.[8] Eleven trains call here on Sundays: five trains to York, five to Hull and one to Selby. In addition, one rail replacement bus service runs between York and Moorthorpe (for onward connections to/from Sheffield) in each direction in the early evening. No services run to or from Leeds. In December 1997, a wheelchair-accessible footbridge opened. Modernisation/electrificationIn May 2021 as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, it was confirmed electrification of the line between York and Church Fenton would happen along with other upgrades.[9] Further confirmation of the upgrade came from the publishing in November 2021 of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP)[10][11] which includes full electrification between York through Church Fenton to Manchester. As of April 2023, electrified rail lines run through Ulleskelf. References
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Ulleskelf railway station.
|