Thorpe Park railway station

Thorpe Park is a proposed railway station, to be sited in the Thorpe Park area to the east of Leeds, England on the Selby Line.

Thorpe Park
National Rail
General information
LocationThorpe Park, City of Leeds
England
Coordinates53.804018°N 1.4248149°W / 53.804018; -1.4248149
Grid referenceSE443334
Managed byN/A
Transit authorityWest Yorkshire (Metro)
Platforms4
Other information
Fare zone2

The station has no connection to the amusement park Thorpe Park in southern England, which is served by Staines railway station.

History

It would be served by trains from the west of Leeds which would normally terminate at Leeds station; by continuing eastwards to this station, it is hoped that extra capacity for through trains would be created at Leeds.[1] The station would also form the first phase of electrifying the railway line to the east of Leeds. As a parkway station (an early name was East Leeds Parkway), the intention would be to allow for a park-and-ride service and the plans include parking for 500 cars.[1]

£20 million was allocated to the scheme by the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Transport Board in April 2008.[2] It was originally hoped that construction would begin in 2011, with a completion date of 2012,[3] but the business case was not submitted to the Department for Transport until 2011.[4] The scheme was put on hold due to a lack of central government funding.[5][6]

The station is likely to be made up of two island platforms, capable of serving inter-city trains.[7]

The station also featured in plans by Alliance Rail as a stopping point for services between Ilkley/Bradford Forster Square and London Kings Cross to begin in 2017.[8] However, in May 2016, the Office of Rail and Road rejected Alliance Rail's plans to runs services under its GNER banner.[9]

The proposals for East Leeds Parkway have been downplayed in favour of an alternative site at Thorpe Park (which is further west).[10] The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has stated that it is to review the options because of the lack of clarity over the Northern Powerhouse enhancement would mean that only stopping trains (operated by Northern) would stop at any future site.[11]

In November 2017, the ‘Connecting People: Strategic Vision for Rail’ Report by the Government proposed a new station in Thorpe Park as part of a plan to reverse the Beeching Cuts.[12] In May 2021, the government announced £15 million worth of funding for the two railway stations in Leeds to be built (the other being White Rose, which is also on the TransPennine line, but on the west side of Leeds).[13][14] The railway station is very close to the new East Leeds Orbital Road (A6120 bypass), which is at Junction 46 of the M1 motorway.[15]

References
  1. "£80 million transport funding for Leeds City Region, but Metro has future aspirations" (PDF). Railway Herald. 28 April 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. "Leeds City Region Rail" (PDF). Railfuture Yorkshire. August 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. "Strategic Business Plan April Update" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  4. "RailPlan Update" (PDF). West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  5. "Meeting of Calderdale Passenger Consultative Committee" (PDF). West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  6. "Update on major schemes" (PDF). West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  7. "Rail Working Group Strategic Update" (PDF). West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  8. "Rail regulator considers bid for more services between Bradford and London". Telegraph and Argus. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  9. "VTEC and FirstGroup granted East Coast Main Line access". Railway gazette. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  10. "New Railway Stations in North and West Yorkshire Feasibility Study" (PDF). WYMetro. 14 October 2014. p. 37. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  11. "East Leeds Parkway location in doubt". Rail Magazine. No. 795. 2 March 2016. p. 10. ISSN 0953-4563.
  12. Milner, Chris, ed. (January 2018). "Long-term reopenings to 'reverse Beeching cuts'". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 164, no. 1, 402. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 13. ISSN 0033-8923.
  13. Parsons, Rob (26 May 2021). "Government to invest £317m to improve TransPennine rail line". The Yorkshire Post. p. 8. ISSN 0963-1496.
  14. "Government announce £401m boost for rail services". BBC News. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  15. Casci, Mark (14 December 2020). "More than 3,000 new jobs set to be created as next phase of Thorpe Park Leeds is revealed". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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