Pontefract Tanshelf railway station is the most central station in the market town of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and serves Pontefract Races, the racecourse located just down the street from the station. It lies on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern and is east of Wakefield Kirkgate. In the days of

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

in the Pontefract area, the station served the needs of the local

workforce In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

with regular and frequent services timed for the beginning and the end of mining shifts. The station is the closest to the former Prince of Wales Colliery which closed in August 2002. The station serves Beechnut Lane, the home ground of Pontefract Collieries F.C. The first station on the site was opened on 17 July 1871 as ''Tanshelf'', being renamed ''Pontefract Tanshelf'' on 1 December 1936. It was closed on 2 January 1967, when the passenger services were diverted away from the direct line to Wakefield Kirkgate (via , to serve Leeds via Castleford. The present station was opened by

West Yorkshire Metro Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE), at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yo ...

on 11 May 1992, when the line between and was reopened. The other stations in the town are Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Baghill. BR class 141 Pacer 141 113

Unlike Pontefract Monkhill, both platforms of Tanshelf are wheelchair-accessible.

Services

On Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly service to Wakefield Kirkgate and and also hourly to

Knottingley Knottingley is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the old A1 road before it was bypassed as the A1(M). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 13,503, increasing ...

. On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service each way to the same destinations. $Pontefract Rail Map$

References

External links

Railway stations in Wakefield DfT Category F2 stations Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1871 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1992 Railway stations served by Northern Beeching closures in England Pontefract {{Yorkshire-Humber-railstation-stub