History
The Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole Railway obtained authorization in 1845 to build a railway to Goole as well as building a pier and improving the harbour. However, it was amalgamated prior to construction with the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1846. In 1847 the Manchester and Leeds Railway was authorized to change its name to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and in 1848 the L&YR was Goole's first connected railway.
In 1846 the Sheffield, Rotherham, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Goole Railway also obtained authorization to build a railway through Goole. However, it was amalgamated in 1847 with the South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway Company prior to building any railways.
The current station was opened by the NER on 1 October 1869 (along with their line from Thorne Junction to Gilberdyke). Passenger trains from the Knottingley direction initially ran to a terminus station next to the docks but this was closed when the NER station opened, trains then using a short curve to join the main line at Potter's Grange Junction 440 yards (400 m) south of the new station. The former L&Y line into the docks remained a busy freight route for many years afterwards, but is now out of use.
Goole station is mentioned in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann about various closed lines on the British railway network.
No one departs, no one arrives, From Selby to Goole, from St Erth to St Ives.
The Selby to Goole Line which opened in 1910, ran via the villages of Rawcliffe, Drax & Barlow until its closure in 1964.
There was a small buffet run by the Kitwood family on the up platform and a small office on the down platform serving a wholesale newspaper business run by Joe Kelbrick; nearby there is a small goods yard used by EWS steel trains. The station saw heavy redevelopment in the 1970s.
Read more about this topic: Goole Railway Station
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