Skipton railway station

Skipton
General information
Location	Skipton, North Yorkshire England
Coordinates	53°57′31″N2°01′35″W / 53.9586°N 2.0264°W / 53.9586; -2.0264
Grid reference	SD983513
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	SKI
Fare zone	7
Classification	DfT category D
History
Original company	Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1847	Opened
1876	Relocated
1888	Ilkley platforms added
1965	Ilkley platforms closed
Passengers
2019/20	1.212 million

Northern Trains Route 7
v t e
Settle & Carlisle & Bentham lines
Carlisle Armathwaite Lazonby & Kirkoswald Langwathby Appleby Kirkby Stephen Garsdale Dent Ribblehead Horton-in-Ribblesdale Settle Heysham Port Morecambe Bare Lane Lancaster Carnforth Wennington Bentham Clapham Giggleswick Long Preston Hellifield Gargrave Skipton Keighley Bingley Shipley Leeds

Skipton is served by two train operating companies.

Northern Trains operates services on the following routes: ^[27]

• The Airedale Line generally provides a half-hourly service to Leeds and an hourly service to Bradford Forster Square. There are additional trains to Leeds during the morning peak and in the opposite direction in the evening rush hour. On Sundays, there is an hourly service to Leeds and to Bradford.
• The Bentham Line provides a two-hourly service between Leeds, Lancaster, Carnforth and Morecambe.
• The Settle and Carlisle Line provides generally two-hourly services between Leeds and Carlisle.

London North Eastern Railway operates a daily return service from Skipton to London King's Cross, via Leeds; the morning southbound train does not run on Sundays. ^[28]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Keighley		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line (Limited service)		Terminus
Keighley		Northern Trains Leeds to Morecambe Line		Gargrave
Keighley		Northern Trains Settle-Carlisle Line		Gargrave
Cononley		Northern Trains Airedale Line		Terminus
	Historical railways
Embsay		Midland Railway Skipton to Ilkley Line		Terminus
Rylstone		Midland Railway Yorkshire Dales Railway		Terminus
Cononley		Midland Railway Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway		Elslack
Terminus		Midland Railway "Little" North Western Railway		Gargrave

Future

Skipton is likely to see changes over coming years, in order to cope with expected growth:

• London North Eastern Railway has expressed a desire to introduce more direct services to London King's Cross, although no specific commitments have yet been made. ^[29]

• Network Rail is also currently investigating means of increasing capacity on the Airedale Line to Leeds, as part of the Yorkshire and Humber RUS. ^[30] Options could include longer trains, with up to six carriages in place of the current four, or more frequent services. ^[31]

• Plans for the route north of Skipton have already been outlined in the Lancashire and Cumbria RUS; this will see an increase in train frequency to Carlisle, with services running to a basic one train every two hours pattern, with extra services to fill service gaps at peak times. Leeds to Morecambe/Lancaster services would also be made more frequent; however, these would only run as far as Skipton. ^[32] Opposition from stakeholders during the consultation phase of the RUS, with regard to the loss of through trains to/from Leeds, has meant that this option will likely not be pursued. ^[33]

• In the long term, SELRAP may achieve their aim of reopening the line to Colne; plans would likely result in some changes to the station.

• The station is served currently by Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire's cross-Pennine 280 bus route to Preston, via Clitheroe. ^[34] It has been proposed as the focus of a park-and-ride scheme serving commuters to Lancaster and Leeds. ^[35]

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

Since preservation, the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway has held long-term plans to extend into Skipton.

The Ilkley-bound platforms (5 & 6) were made redundant in 1965; however, Network Rail has carried out a survey for the reinstatement of the connecting points between the Embsay line and the freight line to Grassington, and the reinstatement of the platform 5 at Skipton. If funding is made available, then the line could be extended. ^[36]

Platform 6 may also be reinstated as a run-round loop as part of the project.

References

1. Historic England. "Skipton Railway Station (1249186)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 January 2017.
2. Binns, p. 8
3. Bairstow, p. 96
4. "Out of Oblivion". Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
5. "Hotels and B&Bs in Yorkshire". Yorkshire Tourist Board. 27 August 2007. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
6. Binns, p. 12
7. Bairstow, p. 28
8. Binns, p. 19
9. Bairstow, p. 4
10. Binns, pp. 12–13
11. Smith & Binns, p. 5
12. Smith & Binns, p. 8
13. Smith & Bairstow, p. 6
14. Awdry, p. 112
15. Smith & Binns, p. 22
16. Suggitt, p. 75
17. "Ride presses for train link". Telegraph & Argus. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
18. The Rail Engineer – Skipton Expansion Wordsworth, Nigel; The Rail Engineer 20 February 2012; Retrieved 20 December 2013
19. "Station gets ready for first InterCity service". Telegraph & Argus. 2 May 1998. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
20. "Children turn out to greet royal visitor". Telegraph & Argus. 27 February 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
21. Golby, M (8 February 2007). "Filthy Station". Craven Herald & Pioneer. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
22. "£2,000 reward offered after railway assault". Telegraph & Argus. 5 September 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
23. "Railfuture EC Eureka Correspondence" (PDF). Railfuture. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
24. "London-Harrogate service returns". Harrogate Advertiser. Johnston Publishing. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
25. New Northern penalty fares will tackle ticket evaders on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines Griffiths, K Telegraph & Argus news article 21 November 2017; Retrieved 11 December 2017
26. Skipton station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 1 December 2016
27. "Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern". Northern Railway. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
28. "Our timetables". LNER. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
29. "Move to improve rail services".
30. "Yorkshire and Humber RUS draft for consultation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
31. "Network Rail Strategic Business Plan for North Transpennine Area 2008" (PDF).
32. "Network Rail Route Utilisation Strategy: Lancashire and Cumbria (Draft)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
33. "Lancashire & Cumbria RUS Final version" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
34. "Skipton Bus Services". Bus Times. 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
35. "Minutes of the Craven District Council Overview & Scrutiny Corporate Sub-group". Craven District Council. 15 February 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
36. Today's Railways UK issue 86

Sources

• Awdry, C. (1990), Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies, Patrick Stephens Ltd., Wellingborough, ISBN   1-85260-049-7
• Bairstow, M. (2000), The "Little" North Western Railway, Martin Bairstow, Leeds, ISBN   1-871944-21-X
• Binns, D. (1984), Steam in Airedale, Wyvern Publications, Skipton, ISBN   0-907941-11-7
• Smith, F.W. and Bairstow, M. (1992), The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway, Martin Bairstow, Halifax, ISBN   1-871944-06-6
• Smith, F.W. and Binns, D. (1986), The Skipton & Ilkley Line, Wyvern Publications, Skipton, ISBN   0-907941-25-7
• Suggitt, G. (2004 reprint), Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN   1-85306-801-2

External links

• Train times and station information for Skipton railway station from National Rail
• Photograph of Skipton railway station platforms
• Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway – Photos of Skipton Station past & present