Thirsk railway station

Thirsk railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Thirsk, North Yorkshire. It is 210 miles 56 chains (339.1 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between York to the south and Northallerton to the north. Its three-letter station code is THI.

Thirsk
View north from the footbridge, showing the lack of platforms for the two centre tracks
Location
PlaceThirsk
Local authorityDistrict of Hambleton
Coordinates54.228240°N 1.372620°W / 54.228240; -1.372620
Grid referenceSE409816
Operations
Station codeTHI
Managed byTransPennine Express
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryE
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.212 million
2015/16 0.218 million
2016/17 0.224 million
2017/18 0.235 million
2018/19 0.230 million
History
Original companyGreat North of England Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
31 March 1841Opened as Newcastle Junction
?Renamed Thirsk
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Thirsk from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is about 1.5 miles (2 km) outside of Thirsk town centre and is actually on the edge of the village of Carlton Miniott.

There are four tracks, but only the outer two have platforms. From satellite imagery it can look as if there are platforms on the inner two tracks, but examination on the ground shows this not to be true; the platform faces serving the innermost pair of tracks were removed in the 1970s in preparation for higher-speed main line running using InterCity 125 trains.[1] The station is operated by TransPennine Express. Other train services are provided by the open-access operator Grand Central.

History

The railway line between York and Darlington was built by the Great North of England Railway, most of which was authorised in 1837; the line was formally opened on 30 March 1841.[2] The station at Thirsk, which opened to the public on 31 March 1841, was originally named Newcastle Junction.[3]

In 1933 Britain's first route-setting power signal box using a switch panel rather than a lever frame opened at Thirsk, to the specification of the LNER's signalling engineers A.F. Bound and A. E. Tattersall, forming the template for many such future installations on the nation's railway network.[1] Larger schemes to a similar design followed at other locations on the former North Eastern Railway network, such as Hull Paragon (1938), Northallerton (1939) and York (1951 - the resignalling project was interrupted by the Second World War and not completed until after nationalisation). Thirsk signal box itself, after various alterations over the course of its life, eventually closed around 1989 under the York IECC signalling scheme.[4]

Facilities

The station has a staffed ticket office (on the southbound platform), which is open through the week (06:45-19:30 Mondays to Saturdays, 08:45-17:30 Sundays) and there is also self-service ticket machine available (this can be used for collecting pre-paid tickets as well as for purchasing when the ticket office is closed). There is a waiting shelter on the northbound platform and customer help points and digital CIS displays on both sides. Step-free access to both platforms is via a barrow crossing and only possible when the station is staffed.[5]

Services

There is generally an hourly service northbound to Redcar Central via Middlesbrough and southbound to York, Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester Airport. One late evening northbound TransPennine service to Newcastle also stops at Thirsk. Grand Central Railway operates five fast services a day to London King's Cross, stopping only at York, with northbound services to Sunderland.

Sundays see an hourly service towards Redcar and to York/Manchester Airport and three Grand Central trains to and from London which continue northbound to Hartlepool and Sunderland.[6]

Events
  • 1841 Station opened at the same time as the York - Darlington line.
  • 1847 permanent water tower built.
  • 1855 Connection to Leeds & Thirsk Railway line to Ripon via Melmerby opened.
  • Accidents occurred in 1867, 1870, 1875, 1879 and 1882.
  • 1933 Britain's first "panel" route-setting power signal box opened at Thirsk.
  • 1954 The first four carriages of the "Heart of Midlothian" express from King's Cross to Edinburgh composed of thirteen coaches derailed. The four carriages derailed after problems with signalling and points, no one was injured.
  • 1959 Ripon services cease in September with closure of Melmerby branch line to all traffic.
  • 1967 A goods wagon derailed which led to a collision with an express, 7 people were killed, 45 injured.

See also
  • Thirsk rail crash (1892)
  • Thirsk rail crash (1967)

References
  1. Appleby, K. (1993). Rail Super Centres: York. Ian Allan.
  2. Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. pp. 67–69. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 168, 228. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. "York IECC Control Area". TRE. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. Thirsk station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 7 February 2017
  6. GB eNRT December 2019 Edition, Tables 26 and 39
Preceding station National Rail Following station
York   TransPennine Express
North TransPennine		   Northallerton
  Grand Central
London to Sunderland		  
  Historical railways  
Sessay
Line open, station closed		   North Eastern Railway
East Coast Main Line		   Otterington
Line open, station closed
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