Ripon railway station

Last updated

Ripon
Old Railway Station, Ripon - geograph.org.uk - 643795.jpg
The remains of the station buildings
General information
Location Ripon
England
Coordinates 54°08′44″N1°30′52″W / 54.145483°N 1.514418°W / 54.145483; -1.514418
Grid reference SE 318 723
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Leeds and Thirsk Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
5 January 1848Opened to goods
1 June 1848 [1] Opened to passengers
6 March 1967Closed to passengers
5 September 1969Closed completely
Location
Ripon railway station

Ripon railway station was a railway station that served Ripon, North Yorkshire, England on the Leeds-Northallerton Line that ran between Harrogate and Northallerton. The station opened to goods traffic from Thirsk in January 1848, and then to passengers in June of the same year. Passenger workings to the south to Wormald Green and beyond did not start until September 1848. The station was closed to passengers in 1967, and then closed completely in 1969.

Contents

History

The station was officially opened to passengers by the Leeds and Thirsk Railway on 1 June 1848, though an inaugural service had travelled along the line between Thirsk and Ripon the day before (31 May 1848). [2] Goods traffic had been travelling along the line into Ripon since 5 January 1848. [3] Initially traffic only came from the north; the land south of the River Ure proved difficult terrain to build a railway on, so the station was opened on the north bank of the river as a way to create income from passengers and offset the cost of building the railway. [3] The section south of the station across Ure Viaduct and onto Wormald Green opened in September 1848. [4]

The original Leeds and Thirsk Railway station was largely wooden, and in 1854, a new station was constructed at a cost of £3,840 (equivalent to £455,000in 2023). [5] The foundation stone for the station buildings was laid on 18 September 1854 by Mrs. A. B. Patience, wife of the station master. [6] The station was located in an area called Ure Bank, 1-mile (1.6 km) north of Ripon city centre. [7]

Ripon station was 11.5 miles (18.5 km) north of Harrogate railway station, and 3 miles 5 chains (4.9 km) south of Melmerby railway station, where the line diverged to Masham, Thirsk and Northallerton. [8] [9] The station had two platforms, with the main building on the down side (northbound), a loading dock, goods shed, timber dock, turntable, and a water column in both the up and down directions. [10] [11] [12] the Railway Clearing House handbook of stations from 1904, states that the station was able to handle general goods, cattle, horses, parcels and passengers, and was equipped with a 5-tonne (5.5-ton) crane. [13]

On 11 August 1866 Prince Edward and Princess Alexandra arrived at the station for a short visit to Studley Royal. They returned the day afterwards to catch the Royal Train to Barnard Castle. [14] The prince and princess returned to Ripon in July 1885 and stayed over again at Studley Royal. [15]

It was taken over by the North Eastern Railway, which became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. It was closed by the British Railways Board to passenger trains in March 1967, and freight trains in September 1969, as part of the Beeching Axe. [16]

Proposals for re-opening

Today much of the route of the line through the city is a relief road and although the former station is still standing, it is now surrounded by a new housing development and the station building was converted into flats in 1990. [17] The issue remains a significant one in local politics and there are movements wanting to restore the line. [18] Reports suggest the reopening of a line between Ripon and Harrogate railway station would be economically viable, costing £40 million and could initially attract 1,200 passengers a day, rising to 2,700. [18] [19] [20] Campaigners continue to call on MPs to restore the Ripon railway link. [21]

In October 2015, North Yorkshire County Council included the reopening in its Strategic Transport Prospectus which was submitted to Transport for the North. [22] In February 2016 the County Council included it in its Local Transport Plan, but it is accepted that it is unlikely to happen until after 2030. [23]

References

  1. ↑ "Opening of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway". Leeds Times. Leeds. 3 June 1848. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Thomson, Celia (1978). The book of Ripon: an historical anthology. Buckingham: Barracuda Books. p. 46. ISBN   0-86023-041-4.
  3. 1 2 Rogers, James (January 2017). "Ripon: a city no longer with a railway". Backtrack. Vol. 31, no. 1. Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic. p. 49. ISSN   0955-5382.
  4. ↑ Bairstow, Martin (2022). Railways through Harrogate. Farsley: Bairstow. p. 127. ISBN   978-1-871944-49-5.
  5. ↑ Rogers 2000, p. 51.
  6. ↑ "New Railway Station" . Leeds Mercury. England. 23 September 1854. Retrieved 9 September 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ Willis, Fred (4 April 2003). "Railway re-opening hopes revived with feasibility study". Darlington & Stockton Times. No. 14–2003. p. 1. ISSN   2516-5348.
  8. ↑ Hoole, K. (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 76. ISBN   0-7153-8527-5.
  9. ↑ Hoole, K. (1985). Railways in the Yorkshire Dales. Clapham: Dalesman Books. p. 54. ISBN   0-85206-826-3.
  10. ↑ Teasdale, John G., ed. (2007). Servicing the North Eastern Railway's locomotives : comprising notes on water softening, water troughs, water pumping stations, water tanks, water columns, turntables, coaling etc. North Eastern Railway Association. p. 48. ISBN   9781873513620.
  11. ↑ Rogers 2000, p. 50.
  12. ↑ Bairstow, Martin (2022). Railways through Harrogate. Farsley: Bairstow. p. 20. ISBN   978-1-871944-49-5.
  13. ↑ The Railway Clearing House handbook of railway stations, 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970 [1904]. p. 460. ISBN   0715351206.
  14. ↑ "The Prince and Princess of Wales's Visit into Yorkshire" . Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. British Newspaper Archive. 14 August 1866. Retrieved 20 August 2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ "The royal visit to the north". The Times. No. 31497. 13 July 1885. p. 7. OCLC   646880228.
  16. ↑ Hoole, Kenneth (1986). The North East (3 ed.). Newton Abbot: David&Charles. p. 106. ISBN   0946537313.
  17. ↑ Rogers 2000, p. 52.
  18. 1 2 "Reopening line makes economic sense, says study". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  19. ↑ "Backing for restoring rail link". BBC News Online. BBC. 11 May 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  20. ↑ "Railway plan may be back on track". The Northern Echo. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "Campaigners call on MPs to restore Ripon railway link". Yorkshire Post. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "County Council include reopening of Ripon railway in transport plans". Ripon Gazette. Ripon. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "Reopened Ripon rail link back on the agenda". Harrogate Advertiser. Harrogate. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

Sources

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Wormald Green   North Eastern Railway
Leeds-Northallerton Railway 		  Melmerby
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