Wakefield Kirkgate Railway Station - Current Condition

Current Condition

Since Westgate developed as Wakefield's main station, Kirkgate has been neglected and is in a poor state of repair. It is unstaffed and, despite the presence of CCTV, the local consensus is the current state of its facilities discourages its use.

The station is owned by Network Rail, with Northern Rail leasing the facilities it uses. Such maintenance work as takes place is focused on these areas, leaving the rest of the station derelict. Plans to redevelop the station have come to nothing which has led to criticism of the main stakeholders; Northern Rail, Wakefield city council and Network Rail. Metro, the local passenger transport executive, is working on a master plan for the station, including redevelopment of its facilities.

The Wakefield Express newspaper launched a 'Staff Our Station' campaign and petition for improved safety at the station after a rape, a serious assault and several robberies took place there. In July 2009, Kirkgate station was visited by Secretary of State for Transport minister Lord Adonis who dubbed it 'the worst medium-large station in Britain' following an inspection by the government and Network Rail, after the 'Staff Our Station' campaign reached Parliament in London. In the same week Lord Adonis visited the station, a man was brutally attacked at the station with a baseball bat. Improvement plans for the station were drawn up by Network Rail, Northern Rail and Wakefield council.

In July 2011, Wakefield Council was asked to decide upon a £500,000 grant to the environmental regeneration charity Groundwork as part of its £4 million Kirkgate project in which new life would be breathed into the publicly condemned building. If the proposal gets the green light then the many thousands of demoralised regulars to the station would have staff on the platforms for the first time in years.

Figures for annual passenger usage at Kirkgate have been comparatively low, with only 769 tickets sold to/from the station in the 2006/7 financial year. This is because most tickets are bought to Wakefield Stations, and it is hard to determine the true use of both Wakefield Westgate and Kirkgate, as separate entities. However after changes in the way the statistics are split, Kirkgate's usage figure has increased dramatically to a value which more accurately reflects its true usage. Additionally over 61,000 interchanges were recorded during the same period.

A pub outside the station, the Wakefield Arms, a Grade II listed building closed since 2003. The building has suffered from vandalism and contributes to the run-down atmosphere of the area.

Kirkgate station is believed by some to be haunted, with stories circulating about paranormal activity. Some enthusiasts have claimed that the ghost of a woman in a Victorian dress has been seen wandering the subway between platforms 1 and 2 at night.