Finningley railway station

Finningley
Location
Place	Finningley and Blaxton
Area	Doncaster
Coordinates	53°29′26″N 0°59′25″W / 53.49064°N 0.99014°W / 53.49064; -0.99014Coordinates: 53°29′26″N 0°59′25″W / 53.49064°N 0.99014°W / 53.49064; -0.99014
Grid reference	SK670997
Operations
Pre-grouping	Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway British Railways
Platforms	2
History
15 July 1867[1]	opened
11 September 1961	Closed for regular passenger service
6 September 1965	closed completely
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Finningley railway station was a railway station built to serve the villages of Finningley and Blaxton, South Yorkshire, England.^[2]

History

The first railway station to be built was some 500 yards (460 m) to the west of the level crossing on the main Bawtry to Thorne road (A614). The second station, still in South Yorkshire, was on the east of the level crossing, some 2 miles (3 km) west of the county boundary. It was located on the Doncaster to Lincoln Line approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from RAF Finningley (now Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport). Although the station closed to passengers on 11 September 1961 ^[3] it was opened specially for trains from Doncaster to the Finningley Air Show until 1965 and on one occasion to serve the Royal Train when H.M. The Queen visited the Royal Air Force airfield.

Nowadays only the derelict platforms remain, along with the former station buildings (which are a private residence) and the signal box, which remains in use to operate the adjacent level crossing.

Future

Planning permission for a new station further north to serve the airport was granted by Doncaster Council in 2008 ^[4] and discussions regarding station design and service levels took place between the local authority, Network Rail and the various TOCs with a view to opening the new station in 2012. To date (June 2016) there has been no progress on building a new station. A 2012 report by Network Rail stated that more trains on the line would be required to make the station viable.^[5] The current service over the line is sparse, with just five Doncaster to Lincoln Central trains each way Mon-Sat in the May 2016 timetable.^[6] There has been a call since then from Sheffield Chamber of Commerce^[7] to provide a rail link to the airport.

Doncaster to Lincoln Line
Legend
East Coast Main Line to London King's Cross │ to York Doncaster Bessacarr Halt Finningley Park Drain Axholme Joint Railway to Goole Haxey Junction Haxey and Epworth Misterton to Stockwith Goods Walkeringham Beckingham Sheffield to Lincoln Line to Sheffield West Trent Junction East Trent Junction Sheffield to Lincoln Line to Cleethorpes Gainsborough Lea Road Lea Stow Park Saxilby Skellingthorpe Nottingham to Lincoln Line Lincoln Central Sheffield to Lincoln Line to Cleethorpes Peterborough to Lincoln Line

References