Wakefield Westgate
ACrossCountry Voyager train calls at Wakefield Westgate station in July 2016
General information
Location	Wakefield,City of Wakefield, England
Coordinates	53°40′55″N1°30′20″W / 53.6820°N 1.5055°W /53.6820; -1.5055
Grid reference	SE327207
Managed by	London North Eastern Railway
Transit authority	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Platforms	2
Tracks	3
Other information
Station code	WKF
Fare zone	3
Classification	DfT category B
Key dates
1 May 1867	Station opened
Passengers
2019/20	2.407 million
Interchange	98,415
2020/21	0.542 million
Interchange	18,753
2021/22	1.790 million
Interchange	90,174
2022/23	1.937 million
Interchange	105,852
2023/24	2.057 million
Interchange	124,026
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail & Road

Wakefield Westgate is one of two railway stations that serveWakefield, inWest Yorkshire, England. It lies 10 miles (16 km) south ofLeeds to the west of the city centre, on theWakefield Line and Leeds branch of theEast Coast Main Line.

The first Westgate station opened in 1856 a few years after the town's first station,Wakefield Kirkgate. In 1867, the station was rebuilt on the opposite side ofWestgate, on the main line betweenLeeds andDoncaster.British Rail modernised the station in 1967, when large parts of the 19th-century station were demolished and replaced with austere but functional facilities. By the 21st century, there was pressure to modernise the station and, between 2009 and 2013, the station was rebuilt and modernised as a result of regeneration efforts focused upon the wider area. On 3 February 2014, the rebuilt station was officially opened.

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During 1856, the first Westgate station opened; this was shortly after the spur line from the town's first station, Wakefield Kirkgate, was built.^[1] Its southern side was built for theBradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway (GNR) on part of the private estate belonging to wealthy cloth merchant John Milnes; his mid-18th centurymansion was partially demolished and its remains were incorporated into the station.^[2]

The station was used for ten years before further developments necessitated its demolition and rebuilding. No traces remain of the original station as the site was levelled and premises for Wakefield School were built on the site. The school has since been demolished.^[2]

A new station opened on the opposite side of Westgate in 1867. It was constructed for the GNR, theManchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire and theLancashire & Yorkshire Railways on the main line from Leeds to Doncaster, which approached Westgate from the north on an embankment before passing through the station and over the bridge in Westgate, at the start of a 95-arch viaduct. The station was designed by Leeds engineer, J. B. Fraser.^[2] Built at a cost of £60,000, it was described by a localnewspaper as "one of the most perfect stations in England – special care in designing the works having been taken…in order that every facility might be given for the easy and expeditious working of the goods and passenger traffic."^[1] A prominent feature was aturreted tower, which, as a result of lobbying by the Wakefield Tradesmen's Association, was converted into a four-facedclock tower in June 1880. The clock's mechanism was designed by thehorologist andlawyerSir Edmund Beckett and made byPotts of Leeds.

Starting in 1967,British Rail embarked on an extensive rebuild of the second station, resulting in the removal of the clock tower and most of the station buildings.^[2][3] The station's decorative and elegant frontage and pavilion roof were demolished and replaced with an austere counterpart. The rebuilt station was "aesthetically inferior to its earlier incarnation, soon proved to be too cramped to cope with a rise in passenger numbers." It was poorly laid out with few opportunities for retail and other services.^[1] Infilling the station forecourt to the level of the first-storey platform provided direct access to theup platform level, but there was no level access to the down platform except via abarrow crossing.^[1]

Westgate became the main station in the town because of its location on the main line from Leeds to London. Until the mid-1960s, it had regular services to Bradford Exchange viaBatley andOssett and via Morley Top^[4] and also toCastleford via the Methley Joint Railway, but these services fell victim to theBeeching cuts between 1964 and 1966.

The station was electrified along with the rest of the Leeds branch of the East Coast Main Line in the late 1980s. During this time the up through line towards Doncaster was removed, in order to allow the electrification masts to be erected.

Improvements to Westgate station were constrained by a lack of funding.^[1] In early 2007 Network Rail announced that a £1.4 million redevelopment scheme was planned for the station to take place by the end of 2009.^[5] The scheme was a part of theWestgate Key Development Area authorised byWakefield Council.^[6] The scheme involved constructing offices, leisure, small-scale retail, hotel, restaurants and housing on the site of an old dairy and disused railway goods yards. In 2009, work on the Merchant Gate development commenced and work on the first phase was completed by September 2010.^[7][8]

Four years later, Westgate station was rebuilt at the northern end of the platforms and the former overflow car park.^[1] Key aims of the project were nearly doubling station's retail facilities, an improved forecourt area, station management centre, staff offices, a customer information point, a first class waiting room and standard class waiting facilities, and the installation of new passenger information technologies and automated ticket barriers to reduce fare evasion.^[1] Better pedestrian access to themulti-storey car park andtaxi ranks were provided.^[1]

Few elements of the modernisation programme interfered with the operational railway, except for the installation of additional canopies and the replacementfootbridge. The old footbridge and some 1960s station buildings were removed.^[1] Wakefield Westgate was the first newly built station on the East Coast Main Line in decades. The programme was an element of the third phase ofMerchant Gate redevelopment scheme and promoted by its backers as being a key part of the area's renewal.^[9] Network Rail was appointed byEast Coast as the principal contractor for the programme and theBuckingham Group was the design-and-build subcontractor.^[1][10] Designed by Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher and RICS 2015 Awards shortlisted, Pro Yorkshire, Best Infrastracture.^[11]

In January 2013, after planning permission was granted on-site preparations began^[1] and in March rebuilding commenced at a cost of £8.8 million, a large portion was provided via the Station Commercial Project Facility (SCPF), and 1 million each from theAccess for All programme and theEnglish Cities Fund.^[1] On 23 December 2013, the station opened to service and on 3 February 2014, it was officially opened bySecretary of State for TransportPatrick McLoughlin and blessed by theBishop of Wakefield,Stephen Platten.^[9][12]

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The station is staffed and has an information kiosk, ticket office and self-service ticket machines, refreshments and a newsagent. Outside is a taxi rank, acashpoint and a bus stop. Train running information is via digital display screens, timetable posters and automatic announcements. Lifts and a footbridge connect the platforms, so step-free access is available throughout the station.^[13]

v t e Wakefield Westgate railway station
Legend
To Outwood & Leeds To Wakefield Kirkgate To Sandal & Aggbrigg, Sheffield & Doncaster

In total, there are 6 tph toLeeds with additional peak services. All northbound services call at Leeds.

The station is served by threetrain operating companies:

• London North Eastern Railway services run south from platform 1 to Doncaster and stations toLondon King's Cross and north from platform 2 to Leeds, although one train per weekday operates non-stop to London King’s Cross, departing at 07:13.^[14] A half-hourly weekday service to London takes approximately just over 2 hours for the 175 miles (282 km) journey.^[15][1]

• CrossCountry operates services north toEdinburgh,Glasgow andAberdeen and south toPlymouth andPenzance.^[16] These call every hour with some additional peak services.

• Northern Trains operates stopping services between Leeds andDoncaster, calling every hour on weekdays and Saturdays. An hourly stopping service also operates fromSheffield to Leeds viaRotherham. Introduced at the May 2018 Timetable change, there is now another hourly service to Leeds. This train originates atKnottingley and runs viaPontefract Monkhill andWakefield Kirkgate. This gives a 3tph Northern Trains service to Leeds (of which, 2tph call atOutwood).^[17]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Sheffield		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Leeds
Doncaster Limited service
Doncaster		London North Eastern Railway London – Leeds
Wakefield Kirkgate		Northern Trains Pontefract line
Sandal & Agbrigg		Northern Trains Wakefield Line		Outwood

Between 1988 and 2009, amodern art sculpture, titled 'A Light Wave', created by theLeeds-based artist Charles Quick, was located on the wall behind the old bay platform on the northbound side of the station. The installation comprised a series of wooden planks laid up against a wall, in the form of waves, and illuminated from behind by a succession of lamps.^[18] The sculpture gradually fell into a state of disrepair, which prompted its removal.

• Wakefield Kirkgate railway station

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWakefield Westgate railway station.

• Photograph of 'A Light Wave' by Charles Quick
• GNR ARDSLEY – LAISTERDYKE (BRADFORD) atLost Railways West Yorkshire

• Art Nouveau railway stations
• Buildings and structures in Wakefield
• Former Great Central Railway stations
• Former Great Northern Railway stations
• Former Midland Railway stations
• Former West Riding and Grimsby Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867
• Railway stations in Wakefield
• Railway stations served by CrossCountry
• Railway stations served by Northern
• Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway
• DfT Category B stations

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