It is a major passenger interchange between the main line,Cross Country Route and local services running acrossNorthern England. It is also the point for which London North Eastern Railway services branching off toLeeds diverge from the main route, which continues north towardsEdinburgh Waverley.
Line-up of steam locomotives (left-to-right: anA2/3,A3 and aB1) at Doncaster station in August 1953Down Express, headed by anA2/3, departing in April 1957
The station was built in 1850, replacing a temporary structure constructed two years earlier and located some 450 yards (410 m) further south.[3][4] Between 1850 and 1873, the station had two main platforms, with loops to each platform diverting off the main running lines.[5]
It was rebuilt in its present form in 1938, where the platform on the townside of the station (the eastern side) was converted into an island platform thereby creating a fourth through running line.[6] The station has had several slight modifications since that date: in 1976, a project to refurbish the passenger facilities was completed at a cost of £125,000 and, in 2006, the new interchange and connection toFrenchgate Centre opened.[7][8]
The station was evacuated and services on the East Coast Main Line stopped in March 1997 due to a bomb hoax called in by theIRA. Actual bombs were left atWilmslow station inCheshire on the same day.[9]
In May 2015, construction commenced on a newplatform 0 to the north-east of the station adjacent to the Frenchgate Centre on the site of the former cattle dock. It is used by terminatingNorthern Trains services toHull,Beverley,Bridlington andScarborough.[10] This allowed these services to operate independently of the East Coast Main Line.[11][12] It is joined to the rest of the station via a fully accessible overbridge.[13]
On 9 August 1947, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision with another due to a signalman's error. 18 people were killed and 188 were injured.[14]
AClass 55Deltic locomotive no.55012Crepello coupling to the Hull-London King's Cross train astrainspotters watch on, July 1977
The station has nine platforms on three islands: platforms 1, 3, 4 and 8 can take through trains; platforms 2 and 5 are south-facing bays; and platforms 0, 6 and 7 are north-facing bays. A first class lounge is available on platform 3A.
Platform 0 is used to take almost exclusively Northern Trains services to and from Hull, Beverley and Bridlington. It was opened on 12 December 2016.[15]
Platform 3A is used by London North Eastern Railway, Grand Central and Hull Trains services to London King's Cross
Platform 3B is used by Northern Trains services to Sheffield and TransPennine Express services toManchester Piccadilly
Between platforms 3 and 4 are the high speedup and down lines to/from London
Platform 4 is used by northbound London North Eastern Railway services toYork,Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley; Grand Central services toBradford Interchange; Hull Trains services to Hull; Northern Trains through services to Bridlington and Scarborough; and TransPennine Express services toCleethorpes. SouthboundCrossCountry services towardsBirmingham New Street also use this platform.
Platform 5 is a bay platform used byEast Midlands Railway services toLincoln and Northern Trains services to Sheffield
Platform 6 is a bay platform used by Northern Trains services to Leeds
Platform 7 is seldom in public use, but is used by Northern Trains services toScunthorpe when it is.
Platform 8 is used by northbound London North Eastern Railway services towards Leeds; CrossCountry services toNewcastle and Northern Trains services in both directions – southbound to Sheffield and northbound toAdwick and Scunthorpe. Services towards Birmingham New Street also use this platform.
There were plans to add platforms 9 and 10 to cope withEurostar trains, but this project was cancelled when it was decided that Eurostar would not serve Britain outsideSouth East England.
There are presently noticket barriers in operation at this station; however, on race days atDoncaster Racecourse, manual ticket checks are in operation in the subway.
The station was refurbished in 2006 and is now directly connected to theFrenchgate Centre extension in Doncaster town centre. The station now has a new booking office for tickets and information, three new lifts, refurbished staircases and subway. There is a newsagent and some food outlets. More recently, interactive touch screens have been installed around the station by London North Eastern Railway services to provide information about local attractions, live departures and disruptions and station facilities. In addition, mobile phone charging points are now available on the concourse, touch screen and self-service ticketing machines have been installed across the concourse; the stairways to the subway have now been divided into two way systems to improve the flow of passengers during peak times.
In a route study byNetwork Rail, it was proposed that new platforms could be built on the western side of the station to meet expected demand in the future.[16]
In March 2019, it was revealed that there were plans, as part of the East Coast improvement programme inControl Period 6, to add an additional platform at Doncaster.[17]
^abStations in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees are considered part of North East England, while stations in the unitary areas of York and North Yorkshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber.
^Stations in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber, while all other stations are considered part of the East Midlands.
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Media related toDoncaster railway station at Wikimedia Commons
