The station is located at the north-eastern end of the Knaresborough Viaduct off Station Road to the north-west side of Knaresborough town centre. The station is within walking distance of the town centre and the western side of Knaresborough.
The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway (E&WJR) was opened from York (Poppleton Junction) to a temporary terminus known as Hay Park Lane, Knaresborough on 30 October 1848. The E&WYJR was absorbed by the York and North Midland Railway on 1 July 1851. Three weeks later, with the completion of the stone viaduct crossing the River Nidd at Knaresborough on 21 July 1851, the temporary station was closed and a new Knaresborough station opened on the current site just beyond the stone viaduct.[2][3]
Beyond the platforms eastbound is a tunnel which separated the station from the goods yard (now a bus depot) and the line's major junction. The Knaresborough to Boroughbridge branch (1875–1950 for passengers,[7] 1964 for goods) diverged from the main line to York opposite the goods yard. This line continued north-east until it met the East Coast Main Line between York and Northallerton at Pilmoor.[8] The tunnel is still extant with both north and south portals are now listed structures.[9][10]
The station signal box (built 1890) is somewhat unusual in that it was built onto the end of an adjoining row of terraced houses on Kirkgate.[5][11] It supervises the single line section eastwards to Cattal, an adjacent level crossing and a crossover that is used to reverse those trains from Leeds that terminate here.
Facilities
The station is unstaffed, but has a single ticket machine available on platform 1. The station buildings on the eastbound platform are in private commercial use – one of these is a cafe (sited in the old booking office) that is open to the public. Both platforms have shelters and are linked by subway and the level crossing.[12] Step-free access is via separate entrances to each platform. A long-line P.A. system and passenger information screens are in place to provide train running details.
Future
On 5 March 2015, the Harrogate Line, amongst others in the area including the Leeds-Bradford Interchange-Halifax Line, the Selby-Hull Line and the Northallerton-Middlesbrough Line, were named top priority for electrification; the estimated cost for the Harrogate Line was £93 million, with a projected cost-benefit ratio of 1/1.80. No implementation date has been set however.[13]
Money has been set aside for the doubling of the single line sections between Knaresborough and York. This will allow capacity improvements along the whole line. The projected completion date for this work is 2018.[14]
Services
All week, there is a half-hourly service between Leeds and York (eastbound).[15] Additional services run between Leeds and Knaresborough during weekday peak periods.
During evenings, there is an hourly service in each direction.
^Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 125. CN 8983.
^Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 116, 136. ISBN1-85260-508-1. R508.
^Fawcett, Bill (2001), A History of North Eastern railway Architecture, vol. 1: The Pioneers, North Eastern Railway Association, p. 138, ISBN1873513348
^Daniels, Gerald David; Dench, Leslie Alan (May 1973) [1964]. Passengers No More (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 67. ISBN0-7110-0438-2. OCLC2554248. 1513 CEC 573.
^Wignall, C.J. (1983), Complete British Railways Maps and Gazetteer from 1830–1981 (First ed.), Oxford Publishing Company, Poole, p. 38, ISBN0-86093-162-5
