Scarborough railway station, formerly Scarborough Central, is a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
station serving the seaside town of
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...
. It lies east of
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and is one of the eastern termini on the North TransPennine route, operated by
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
. The station is also at the northern end of the
Yorkshire Coast line
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and is reputed to have the longest station seat in the world at long.
From 1907 until 2010 the station approaches were controlled from a 120-lever signal box named Falsgrave (at the outer end of platform 1 and close to the former excursion station at ). In its final years Falsgrave box controlled a mixture of colour-light and semaphore signals, including a gantry carrying 11 semaphores. The signal box was decommissioned in September 2010 and the gantry was dismantled and removed in October 2010. Its new home was
Grosmont railway station, on the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by Georg ...
. The new signalling is a relay-based interlocking with two- and three-aspect LED signals controlled from an extension to the existing panel at nearby . Simplification of the track layout and major renewals took place at the same time.
History
Scarborough station opened on Monday 7 July 1845, following the completion of the line from
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. The first train, consisting of 35 coaches, was hauled by two locomotives named ''Hudson'' and ''Lion'' and arrived in Scarborough at 1:35 p.m., having stopped at , and , taking just over three hours. All the shops closed, and an estimated ten to fifteen thousand spectators saw it arrive.
The original station building was designed by G.T. Andrews. It had a wrought-iron and glazed roof, 348 feet long by 88 feet wide, in two spans and 30 feet from the rails. On the opening day the station was complete except for the overall roof, and the goods shed in the station yard had not been built.
The main station building included: a large central booking office, superintendent room, 1st class, 2nd class and Ladies' waiting rooms, toilets, porters' room, storeroom and refreshment room. Above the refreshment room was originally the station master's house, later the station hotel with ten bedrooms.
At first there were two platforms connected at the north end, with four tracks in between them, each track having a pair of turntables, one at each end of the platforms. Gradually as traffic increased modifications were made to the station layout.
To accommodate excursion traffic two new platforms were added in 1883, now known as platforms 1 and 2. Separate waiting rooms and more facilities were provided. The station clock, built by Potts of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and costing £110 () , was added in about 1884.
During the 1890s and until 1903 goods traffic was moved from the station yard to
Gallows Close so that more platforms could be provided. The original goods shed, which was next to the station building, became platforms 6 to 9. Trains for the Forge Valley line often used these four platforms.
Platform 1A was formed out of platform 1 for easier access to the Whitby line and opened for the beginning of the summer timetable in 1934.
Until 1965 the station also served a line from
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
and until 1950 from
Pickering. The station was previously named Scarborough Central to distinguish it from the now closed on the
York to Scarborough Line
York is a cathedral city
Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom.
Cathedral city may also refer to:
* Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States
* Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar ch ...
. In the late 1960s most of the roof that covered platforms 1 and 2 was demolished, leaving these platforms outdoors, though the platforms still remain in use today
By the early 1980s regular use of platforms 6-9 had declined and following a simplification of the track layout in 1985 they were taken out of use and demolished. The land they had occupied is now used for car and coach parking, though the overall roofs and brick walls remain.
The current to service used to continue to Scarborough alongside other TransPennine Express services. This was operated by
Arriva Trains Northern
Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 ...
until
Northern Rail
Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...
took over the franchise in 2004. This service was usually worked by
West Yorkshire Metro
Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...
liveried
Class 158s and occasionally a . There was also a local service from York to Scarborough, usually worked by a
Class 144
The British Rail Class 144 ''Pacer'' was a diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train built at Derby between 1986 and 1987. BR, seeking to procure improved derivatives of the earlier Class 141, placed an order with the manufacturers British R ...
or a .
Station Masters
*T. Mennell 1847 - 1866
*John Bearup 1870 - 1882
*William Taylor 1882 - 1890
*George Brown 1890 - 1912
*Albert Horsley 1912 - 1921
*Frederick Dowson 1922 - 1943
*Harold Baines 1944 - 1946 (formerly station master at Basford and Bulwell, afterwards station master at Hull Paragon)
*J.G. Handley 1946 - 1947 (formerly station master at Bridlington, afterwards station master at Sunderland)
*Ernest Brooks 1948 - ???? (formerly station master at Manors and Jesmond)
*W.A.A. Scott 1954 - 1957
*A. Maleham 1957 - 1959
*J.F. Layton 1959 - ????
*G.E. Hunter ca. 1963
Facilities
![Scarborough - the long seat - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Scarborough_-_the_long_seat_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1495929.jpg)
Scarborough station has a Travel Centre, ticket office, touch-screen ticket machines and a Pumpkin Cafe. The main building has a small waiting room.
Platforms 3–5 are partly covered, as is platform 1, which reputedly features the longest railway bench in the world at in length.
Outside the station are a taxi rank and several bus shelters/stops where local and longer-distance bus services depart and arrive. These include
Arriva North East
Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...
route X93 to
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
and
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
via the A171;
Yorkshire Coastliner
Transdev York & Country (also known as Yorkshire Coastliner) operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Man ...
services to West Yorkshire via the
A64; and
East Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to th ...
route 128 (to
Pickering/
Helmsley
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of Pi ...
via the A170) and routes south along the A165 to
Filey
Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...
/
Bridlington
Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...
.
Benches are provided throughout the station, which is staffed at all times. The station also has two payphones, a vending machine and luggage trolleys, as well as toilets and cycle racks. Step-free access is available to all platforms.
Services
![NER's Map Scarborough](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/NER%27s_Map_Scarborough.jpg)
The typical off-peak service from the station is:
*1tph (train per hour) to via , and (operated by
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
)
*1tph to (operated by
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
)
From 2000 until 2019,
Midland Mainline
Midland Mainline was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Midland Main Line franchise from April 1996 until November 2007. Midland Mainline ran fast and semi-fast passenger services fro ...
and successors
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019.
Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award ...
and
East Midlands Railway
Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
History
In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...
operated one return service from and to
London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...
via
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
on Summer Saturdays initially with
Class 170s and later
Class 222s.
In summer
West Coast Railways
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the com ...
operates steam locomotive hauled ''
Scarborough Spa Express
The ''Scarborough Spa Express'' (SSE) is a regular summer heritage steam locomotive service between and . It is currently operated by the West Coast Railways, but has been operated in previous years by different companies, including the Railway ...
'' services from York.
Scarborough is also a popular destination for charter services as it has an operational
turntable
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
.
Future of the station
Three different proposals were put forward at the November 2009 Town Team meeting by SNAP Architects (Hull) with Local Transport Projects (Beverley) on the development of the Scarborough station area. All the proposals focused on different aspects (such as community/green/transport) of development. All three proposed improving the station frontage and opening up an entrance to the south of the station.
Service improvements
The new TPE and Northern franchises, which started in April 2016, were committed to improved service frequencies and rolling stock on both lines - the York route was have two departures per hour instead of the previous one as of December 2019, both operators offering an hourly service as far as York, whilst the Hull line now has an hourly timetable seven days per week. The latter was introduced at the May 2019 timetable change, but plans for the York line to go to 2tph have since been put on hold due to lack of available rolling stock.
Trains to Liverpool have also been diverted west of Stalybridge to travel via
Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was ...
and (reverting to the route they used prior to May 1989). The improved service saw a new £7 million train servicing depot built in Scarborough to maintain the rolling stock.
Accident
On 10 August 1943 Scarborough station was the scene of an accident between two trains at platform 5. The late-running 09:05 express from
Hull was wrongly routed by the signalman and hit the 11:18 stopping train, which was waiting to depart. Four passengers in the first coach of the stopping train – all soldiers – were killed, eight received serious injuries and a further 22 suffered minor injuries. Nobody was injured on the express train.
Local connections
References
External links
*
The Flying Scotsman arriving in Scarborough – Webshots.comScarborough's Urban Renaissance – Scarborough Station Re-development
{{Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Railway stations in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1845
Stations on the Hull to Scarborough line
Northern franchise railway stations
Railway stations served by TransPennine Express
Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire
George Townsend Andrews railway stations
Grade II listed railway stations
DfT Category C1 stations