Bridlington railway station
Encyclopedia
Bridlington railway station serves the town of Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...

 in the East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located on the Yorkshire Coast Line
Yorkshire Coast Line
The Yorkshire Coast Line is a railway line in northern England. It runs northwards from Hull Paragon to Bridlington and Scarborough calling at other intermediate stations.-History:...

 and is operated by Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...

 who provide all passenger train services.

The station buffet at Bridlington is one of only three original station buffets left in the UK, and provides the prize winning flower display in the station.

History

The station was opened on 6 October 1846 by the York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds.-Origins:...

 as the terminus of their line running from Hull railway station. An extension northwards to Filey railway station
Filey railway station
Filey railway station serves the town of Filey in North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Yorkshire Coast Line and is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services....

 leading to a junction at Seamer railway station
Seamer railway station
Seamer railway station serves the village of Seamer in North Yorkshire, England. It lies near the end of the Scarborough branch on the First TransPennine Express North TransPennine route, east of York at its junction with the northern end of the Yorkshire Coast Line...

 connecting with the York to Scarborough Line
York to Scarborough Line
The York to Scarborough Line runs between the city of York, England, and the town of Scarborough. Towns and villages served along the way are Malton, Norton-on-Derwent and Seamer.-History:...

 was opened just over a year later.

The original station buildings and platforms (numbered 1-3) were located a few yards to the west of the current station. These consisted of a train shed designed by G T Andrews and similar to his work at Filey and . Platform 3 was an extension to the original scheme and was a bay platform used for many years by the 'Malton Dodger' until the 1950s. Bridlington expanded as a resort at the turn of the century largely as a result of the railway. Direct trains ran from the industrial heartlands via Selby and in the summer. The new holiday market led to a huge expansion of the resort and the need for a larger station to take the long excursion trains.

The present concourse and the main platforms date from the 1912 expansion of the station which included Bell's wrought iron canopies over the lengthy platforms 5 and 6. A new roofed concourse was built and the new station entrance included the original canopy from the old entrance. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 excursion platforms were added to cope with the many special trains. On summer Saturdays the timetable would include through trains to Leeds, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the Midlands and Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. The inter-war period saw the greatest extent of the station complete with engine shed and two turntables with extensive sidings. The fine compact Station Buffet was built at this time.

After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the excursion market continued to thrive until the early 1960s particularly with the opening of Butlin's at Filey which had its own station
Filey Holiday Camp railway station
Filey Holiday Camp railway station was a railway station built by the London & North Eastern Railway to serve the Butlins Holiday Camp just south of Filey, in the then East Riding of Yorkshire, England...

. After the Beeching closures
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...

 of the Wolds'
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....

 lines excursions continued but the demand weakened. By the 1980s rationalisation was overdue as many lines in the station were rarely used except on summer weekends. The timetable was changed to create a regular 30 minute clockface service south of Bridlington with fewer trains to Scarborough. A Winter Sunday service was introduced south of Bridlington in the late 1980s.

Today's station is much changed from the extensive original and is a fragment. The original train sheds were removed and replaced by concrete canopies as at and during the late 1950s. These original platforms (Nos 1 and 2) were taken out of use in March 1983 and subsequently demolished (the site is now occupied by housing).

The excursion platforms on the opposite side (7 & 8) were taken out of regular use prior to signalling changes in 2000 that put the line northwards towards Filey & Scarborough under the control of the signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...

es at Bridlington South and Seamer
Seamer railway station
Seamer railway station serves the village of Seamer in North Yorkshire, England. It lies near the end of the Scarborough branch on the First TransPennine Express North TransPennine route, east of York at its junction with the northern end of the Yorkshire Coast Line...

, leaving only three platforms (4 - 6) in operation. Platform 8 is also now back in use but only as a siding (i.e. not for passenger trains).

Today's station has preserved the wide concourse and the sweeping curved platforms of the 1912 extension, and it has many floral displays.

Facilities

The station is staffed part time covering approximately 'shop hours'. Facilities include a waiting room, ticket office, lost property and car park. Wheelchair access is not complete due to a bridge to platform 4 (for Scarborough), meaning access to that platform is via a barrow crossing on the track which may require staff assistance.

A Ticket Vending Machine was installed on 26 January 2011, near to the Council Information Point inside the concourse.

The station buffet, now privately managed and licensed serves refreshments, including teas and real ales, and is fitted out in 'steam era' style. Other parts of the building unused by the railway are now used for local interest groups - the parcel office is now an arts centre run by MIND mental health charity, and other parts of the building are used by Bridlington Model Railway Society.

A Selecta Vending Machine is also available on platform 5.

Services

There is a half hourly service from the station to Hull on weekdays, with alternate departures continuing to Doncaster railway station
Doncaster railway station
Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...

 and Sheffield railway station - some of these are limited stop both sides of Hull whilst others serve most intermediate stations en-route. In general the stopping pattern of the hourly Sheffield service is Bridlington, Driffield, Beverley, Cottingham, Hull, Brough, Goole, Doncaster, Meadowhall and Sheffield.
There are also nine departures a day to Scarborough, the frequency varying between every ninety minutes and every two hours. There is also one service each way to/from Sheffield that runs via Selby railway station
Selby railway station
Selby railway station serves the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Hull-York Line south of York, Leeds-Hull Line east of Leeds and west of Hull....

 rather than the usual route via Goole railway station
Goole railway station
Goole railway station serves the town of Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.The service is operated and the station is managed by Northern Rail...

.

On Sundays trains operate hourly to Hull and every second hour to Scarborough from mid-morning throughout the year (rather than in summer only as before), with most of the Hull trains continuing to Sheffield via Doncaster. The new Sunday service is the first all year, all line, Sunday train service since at least 1958.

The local Community Rail Partnership
Community rail
In the United Kingdom, a community rail line is a local railway which is specially supported by local organisations. This support is usually through a Community Rail Partnerships – comprising both the railway operator, local councils and other community organisations – or sometimes by...

 is hoping that service improvements, such as a year-round Sunday service and a weekday hourly service to Scarborough, can be implemented once Northern Rail receives additional rolling stock from the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

 as part of a central government investment plan for the local rail network.

Train operator Northern Rail has since confirmed that it plans to institute an improved weekday and all-year Sunday service from December 2009 (subject to approval from the DfT). These changes were implemented with the start of the new timetable on 13 December 2009.

Locomotive hauled and heritage trains

Loco-hauled and steam trains are now permitted access to the line following a nine-day engineering blockade in February 2008 & February 2009 that saw more than 4 miles of track replaced.

On 25 July 2009 the first loco-hauled excursion for some years "The Bridlington Seaside Special" arrived from London Kings Cross with Class 66 haulage. A Western loco D1015 visited on 5 December 2009 and a charter to Edinburgh ran on 18 December 2009. In 2010 a railtour to Carlisle began in Bridlington, hauled by 2 class 47 locos.Class 47. On 24 July the line was visited by a charter hauled by Class 67 locomotives.

External links

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