Place Little Smeaton Grid reference SE531164 | Area Selby 1885 opened | |
Pre-grouping Hull and Barnsley Railway 1932 closed for regular passenger service | ||
Kirk Smeaton railway station opened on 22 July 1885. It is located on the east side of Willowbridge Road in Little Smeaton, North Yorkshire, England. The Company that ran the station on opening was the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company. The station closed to passengers on 1 January 1932 and closed completely on 6 April 1959. The operating company on closing was British Railways (North Eastern Region).
Notes: After closure some excursions ran from the station to Hull Fair and Leeds football ground. These included 14 October 1933 during Hull Civic Week and 28 February 1953 to Leeds.
A brief history of The Hull and Barnsley Railway
The Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company was formed with the backing of Hull Corporation to break the monopoly on dock and rail traffic from Hull; it included a deep water dock (Alexandra Dock) to the east of Hull. The railway never reached Barnsley itself, terminating at Cudworth (junction with the Midland Railway) some four miles short having been vigorously opposed by the NER.
It was one of the last new main lines to be built, construction cost double the estimates, due in part to difficulties in cutting and tunnelling through unexpectedly hard chalk in the Yorkshire Wolds near Little Weighton.
Although it was constructed primarily for goods traffic to and from the new dock and the South Yorkshire coalfields, fine villa-style passenger stations were provided but though passenger traffic was sparse.
In 1905 the company name was shortened to the Hull and Barnsley Railway which was absorbed into the NER on 1 January 1923.
The line was gradually run down from the early 1930s with all passenger services ceasing in 1955. Today only the high level goods line around Hull and a short section serving Drax power station remain in use.