Northallerton Railway Station - History

History

The station was opened by the Great North of England Railway on 30 March 1841. Eleven years later the Leeds Northern Railway completed its line from Leeds to Stockton through the town, although this did not initially connect with the main line. Instead trains called at nearby Northallerton Town station a short distance away, near the point where it passed beneath the line towards Darlington. By 1854 the GNoE and the LN had both become part of the North Eastern Railway which soon began running through trains on the LN route via Thirsk. These then rejoined the line towards Eaglescliffe by means of a new link from the main line at High Junction that was opened in 1856. The original LN route southwards towards Melmerby was then operated as a branch line until 1901, when the NER connected it to the main line via another new junction at the southern end of the station and started using it as the primary route from West Yorkshire to Teesside once more.

Meanwhile the Wensleydale branch line to Bedale, Leyburn and Hawes had been opened in stages between 1848 and 1878. It joined the main line immediately north of the station and its trains used a bay at the northern end of the northbound island platform. Passenger trains on the branch were withdrawn from 26 April 1954, although it remains open for occasional M.o.D trains to Redmire and heritage trains operated by the Wensleydale Railway. There is however currently no direct route to the branch from the station as its junction faces north and trains must access it by means of a reversing siding off the northbound main line. The defunct south to west curve will need to be reinstated and a new platform constructed before Wensleydale trains can run to and from the station once again (the link to and from Leeming Bar is currently made by bus).

Services were withdrawn on the line towards Ripon on 6 March 1967, after the route was earmarked for closure in the Beeching Report. The line north-eastwards towards Stockton had already lost its local passenger services by this time, but it was retained for freight traffic to and from Teesside and occasional longer distance passenger trains. It now carries a regular service to and from Middlesbrough.