Finningley railway station

Finningley
General information
Location	Finningley and Blaxton, Doncaster England
Coordinates	53°29′26″N0°59′25″W / 53.49064°N 0.99014°W / 53.49064; -0.99014
Grid reference	SK670997
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway British Railways
Key dates
15 July 1867 [1]	opened
11 September 1961	closed for regular passenger service
6 September 1965	closed completely
Location

Finningley railway station was a railway station built to serve the villages of Finningley and Blaxton, South Yorkshire, England. ^[2]

History

The first railway station to be built was some 500 yards (460 m) to the west of the level crossing on the main Bawtry to Thorne road (A614). The second station, still in South Yorkshire, was on the east of the level crossing, some 2 miles (3 km) west of the county boundary. It was located on the Doncaster to Lincoln Line approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from RAF Finningley (now Doncaster Sheffield Airport). Although the station closed to passengers on 11 September 1961 ^[3] it was opened specially for trains from Doncaster to the Finningley Air Show until 1965 and on one occasion to serve the Royal Train when H.M. The Queen visited the Royal Air Force airfield. ^[1]

Nowadays only the derelict platforms remain, along with the former station buildings (which are a private residence) and the signal box, which remains in use to operate the adjacent level crossing.

Future

Planning permission for a new station further north to serve the airport was granted by Doncaster Council in 2008 ^[4] and discussions regarding station design and service levels took place between the local authority, Network Rail and the various TOCs with a view to opening the new station in 2012. However, there was no progress on building a new station by June 2016. A 2012 report by Network Rail stated that more trains on the line would be required to make the station viable. ^[5] The service over the line was sparse, with just five Doncaster to Lincoln Central trains each way from Monday to Saturday in the May 2017 timetable. ^[6] There has been a call from Sheffield Chamber of Commerce ^[7] to provide a rail link to the Doncaster Sheffield airport and a new railway station for the air terminal. ^[8]

The council applied for the station in the New Stations Fund 2 in 2017 but was unsuccessful. ^[9]

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Bessacarr Line open, station closed		Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint		Park Drain Line open, station closed

v t e Doncaster–Lincoln line
Legend
Doncaster Bessacarr Halt Finningley Park Drain Axholme Joint Railway to Goole Haxey Junction Haxey and Epworth River Idle Chesterfield Canal Misterton to Stockwith Goods Misterton Petroleum storage depot Walkeringham Beckingham Sheffield–Lincoln line to Sheffield West Trent Junction River Trent East Trent Junction Sheffield–Lincoln line to Cleethorpes Gainsborough Lea Road Lea Stow Park Leverton Branch Saxilby LD&ECR Skellingthorpe Grimsby–Lincoln–Newark line Lincoln Grimsby–Lincoln–Newark line to Cleethorpes Peterborough–Lincoln line

References

1. "Disused stations: Finningley".
2. Historic England. "Monument No. 509007". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 2 January 2011.
3. Subterranea Britannica - Finningley
4. "Take-Off For Airport Station Plans". Railnews.co.uk. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
5. Network Rail, Route Specifications 2012 – London North Eastern, p76
6. Table 18 National Rail timetable, May 2017
7. "Calls for rail link to Doncaster’s Robin Hood Airport Archived 10 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Peace, Lee, Doncaster Free Press 8 August 2014; Retrieved 13 June 2016
8. Dyson, Andrew, ed. (September 2017). "Feasibility study to belaunched into Doncaster Airport link". Today's Railways. No. 189. Sheffield: Platform 5. p. 20. ISSN   1475-9713.
9. "Proposed Railway Schemes". trundleage.co.uk. 22 August 2017.