Arthington railway station

Arthington railway station served the village of Arthington in the English county of West Yorkshire, near the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate.

Arthington
Gas Works at Arthington railway station in 2008
Location	Arthington, City of Leeds England
Coordinates	53.8950°N 1.6099°W
Grid reference	SE257443
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Leeds and Thirsk Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
10 April 1849	Station opens as Pool
February 1852	Station renamed Arthington
1 February 1865	Station moved 605m south
22 March 1965[1]	Station closes

History

Opened by the Leeds Northern Railway, as part of the North Eastern Railway it was absorbed into 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, closing under that management.[2]

The site today

A disused platform edge on the south curve

There have been two stations at Arthington. The original, which opened in 1849, was sited south of the main road (Arthington Lane) near to the Wharfedale Inn. The second station was built to serve the Otley branch which opened in 1865, superseding the first station.[3] The former station is now a private residence. The two sides of the railway triangle that lay to the north of the station have been dismantled (closed 22 March 1965). Trains still pass the eastern part of the triangle on the Harrogate Line.

Proposed station

A station has been proposed to re-open on this site to alleviate road traffic into Leeds along the parallel A roads.[4] West Yorkshire Combined Authority declined to push forward with the plans for Arthington Parkway (as it is named in a 2014 Feasibility study). Reasons cited are the severity of the gradient at the site, insufficient car parking space and lack of suitable road infrastructure for a Park and Ride facility.[5] Local campaigners refute these claims citing that there was a station on the site before and that the report wrongly places the station on the old trackbed of the now closed Otley railway line.[6]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Horsforth		North Eastern Railway Leeds Northern Railway		Weeton
		North Eastern Railway Leeds and Thirsk Railway		Pool-in-Wharfedale

References

1. Passengers No More by G.Daniels and L.Dench second edition page 17
2. Young, Alan (2015). Lost Stations of Yorkshire - the West Riding. Kettering: Silver Link. pp. 43–49. ISBN 978-1-85794-438-9. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
3. Cobb, M H (2003). The railways of Great Britain - a historical atlas (2 ed.). p. 396. ISBN 0711030030. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
4. Jack, Jim (24 April 2014). "'Reopen Horsforth and Arthington stations to ease traffic,' says Wharfedale MP". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
5. "New Railway Stations in North and West Yorkshire Feasibility Study" (PDF). WYMetro. 14 October 2014. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
6. "Campaigners vow to fight for station". Ilkley Gazette. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Station on navigable O.S. map