Place Wakefield Station code WKK 2011/12 0.449 million Opened 5 October 1840 Number of platforms 3 | Grid reference SE339204 DfT category F1 2012/13 0.448 million Managed by Northern | |
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Address Wakefield WF1 4EL, United Kingdom Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway Pte West Yorkshire Metro (Metro) Similar Wakefield Westgate railway st, Sandal and Agbrigg railway st, Pontefract Monkhill railway st, Meadowhall Interchange, Leeds railway station | ||
Wakefield kirkgate railway station
Wakefield Kirkgate railway station is a railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike the nearby Wakefield Westgate railway station, Kirkgate is unstaffed. The station is managed by Northern but also served by Grand Central. It is on the Hallam, Pontefract, Huddersfield lines and also has a limited number of services to London Kings Cross.
Contents
Wakefield kirkgate railway station
History
The original Kirkgate station opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1840 was the only station in Wakefield until Westgate was opened in 1867. The station building dates from 1854.
Some demolition work took place in 1972, removing buildings on the island platform and the roof with its original ironwork canopy which covered the whole station. A wall remains as evidence of these buildings. After this, Kirkgate was listed in 1979.
Since Westgate developed as Wakefield's main station, Kirkgate was neglected for many years and deteriorated until it was in a poor state of repair. In January 2008 the former goods warehouse was demolished to make way for a depot for Network Rail. In October 2008, part of the station wall collapsed, destroying a parked car.
The station is unstaffed and, despite the presence of CCTV, it suffered from crime. A rape, a serious assault and several robberies took place there. In July 2009, Kirkgate station was visited by Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis who dubbed it "the worst medium-large station in Britain". Local consensus was that the state of its facilities discouraged its use.
Refurbishment 2013-2015
Following a campaign supported by the Wakefield Express newspaper, plans to redevelop the station were formulated. In July 2011, Wakefield Council was asked to decide upon a £500,000 grant to the environmental regeneration charity Groundwork UK as part of its £4 million Kirkgate project in which new life would be breathed into the area. The proposal was approved and funds raised in March 2013. The work was carried out in two phases between 2013 and 2015.
Work completed by June 2013 included the following items:
A second phase of work, completed in September 2015, included
A pub outside the station, the Wakefield Arms, a Grade II listed building has been closed since 2003. The building has suffered from vandalism and contributes to the run-down atmosphere of the area. The derelict state of the pub led to Wakefield Council issuing a Section 215 notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ordering the owner to make improvements, but as of December 2016 no action has been taken.
Usage
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.
Station layout
Platform 1 – Served by northbound Northern services to Leeds and Castleford, and also by reversing services towards Wakefield Westgate from Huddersfield.
Platform 2 – Served by southbound Northern services towards Barnsley, Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield, Chesterfield and Nottingham. There is also the reversing service towards Huddersfield from Wakefield Westgate.
Platform 3 – Served by north-eastbound Northern services towards Knottingley, southbound to Wakefield Westgate and also several times each day by Grand Central Trains eastbound towards London Kings Cross (which then begin a southbound journey after Doncaster) and westbound towards Bradford Interchange via Halifax.
The island platform consisting of platforms 2 and 3, is linked to platform 1 and the station building by a newly refurbished subway, featuring better lighting and new bright white paint.
Current services
Most services through this station are operated by Northern but those to London and Bradford are operated by Grand Central.
Future services
From December 2019, services to Nottingham will begin operating via Wakefield Westgate, meaning they no longer stop here. This change is part of the new Northern Connect service, from here on, Kirkgate will be served by an hourly train to Lincoln Central via Sheffield and Retford. These services will be operated by brand new rolling stock, featuring free WiFi.
Steam trains
During the summer, steam trains run through the station; the Scarborough Spa Express on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with the Scarborough Flyer on Fridays.