Place Askern Grid reference SE564136 | Area Doncaster Platforms in use 2 | |
Original company Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway Pre-grouping Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway Similar Edlington railway station, Norton (South Yorkshire, Denaby Halt railway st, Barnby Dun railway st, Bawtry railway station | ||
Askern railway station was a station on the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway between Doncaster and Knottingley. It served the small mining village of Askern in South Yorkshire, England.
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History
The branch line of the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway (WP&GR) between Knottingley (on the WP&GR) and Askern Junction (on the London and York Railway, a predecessor of the Great Northern Railway) was authorised on 16 July 1846. It opened on 6 June 1848, and Askern, 8 miles (13 km) from Knottingley, was one of the original stations. In the meantime, the WP&GR had amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway and others on 9 July 1847 to form the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The L&YR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station was closed to regular passenger traffic from 10 March 1947, and to all passenger traffic from 27 September 1948. It remained open for goods traffic ever since. The station was passed over to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation. It had been reopened for limited service by 3 August 1980.
The site today
Trains still pass the site as the line is still open for freight traffic, and since May 2010, regular passenger trains operated by Grand Central pass through to and from London Kings Cross. Although there is no station at Askern today, the two platforms still remain from 1948. In September 2008, as part of Doncaster Borough Councils report on rail corridors in the borough Askern, along with 7 other sites, was listed as one of the stations suitable for reopening in the future.
Potential reopening
In late 2015 the reopening of the station was raised by the residents of Askern. They presented the petition to the Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones. Due to the building of two semi-detached properties and two blocks of flats being built next to the original foundations of the station the place for the potential rebuild would have to be moved to a more convenient space.