Railway line in Yorkshire, England
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The Hull–Scarborough line, also known as the Yorkshire Coast Line, is a railway line in Yorkshire, England that is used primarily for passenger traffic. It runs northwards from Hull Paragon via Beverley and Driffield to Bridlington, joining the York–Scarborough line at a junction near Seamer before terminating at Scarborough railway station.
The line was built in the 1840s, and formed by lines sanctioned by three separate acts: the southern part from a junction on the Hull and Selby Railway was a branch of that railway, and ran to Bridlington; the line from Bridlington to Seamer Junction was promoted by the York and North Midland Railway (Y&amp;NMR); and the section from Seamer to Scarborough was part of the Y&amp;NMR's York to Scarborough Line. The lines' route has been mostly unaltered since opening with the exception of the section into Hull which was modified soon after opening with the addition of about of track leading to the new Paragon station, which opened in 1848.
The line has been part of the Y&amp;NMR, NER, LNER and British Railways. As of 2018, trains on the line are operated by Northern Trains.
History.
In the 1840s the Hull and Selby Railway (H&amp;S) was promoting a branch line to Bridlington, and planning other branches in the East Riding – in the same period the York and North Midland Railway (Y&amp;NMR) were planning a branch to the town from their line to Scarborough. This, and a desire to control the H&amp;S's main line into Hull led the Y&amp;NMR to seek and obtain a lease on the H&amp;S.
Acts allowing the construction of the H&amp;S's and Y&amp;NMR's branches were passed by Parliament on the same day, 23 June 1845; and the lease of the H&amp;S to the Y&amp;NMR came into effect on 1 July 1845. A connection between the Hull–Bridlington and Bridlington–Seamer lines was obtained by exploiting the maximum deviations of the submitted plans.
Construction.
Seamer to Scarborough.
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&amp;NMR) opened a line from York to Scarborough on 7 July 1845. The section from Seamer to Scarborough forms the last part of the coastal line from Hull, with the branch connecting at Seamer junction. As built the only station on the section was the pre-existing Scarborough station.
Hull and Selby Railway (Bridlington branch).
The Hull–Bridlington line had been surveyed in 1844 by William Bailey Bray, who estimated a cost of £190,000 for a single-track line. Because the region was practically level, the planned line crossed roads on the level, instead of the usual bridge required; this aspect required examination by committee during the process of obtaining parliamentary permission.
An act of Parliament was obtained on 23 June 1845 giving permission to build the "Hull and Selby Railway (Bridlington Branch)", enabling a line from Hull to Bridlington of . The 1845 Act allowed the raising of £216,000 by shares, and a further £72,000 by loans. The 1846 Hull and Selby purchase act increased the amount of capital that could be raised.
By July 1845 Hull and Selby was leased to the York and North Midland, but was responsible for constructing the Bridlington branch line, as a result a joint committee was formed of directors of both businesses. Three contracts for the line's construction were tendered, separated at Driffield and Beverley; all were given to "Thomas Jackson and Alfred Bean" ("Jackson and Bean") (cumulative value £93,534). The line's construction was simple on predominately flat land, with road crossings on the level, and with the only significant river crossing being on the River Hull (or "West Beck", "Driffield Trout stream", or "Eastburn Beck") well upstream, at Driffield; the river bridge was crossed by a 4 arched bridge of low height. Construction of stations and other buildings was contracted (for three sections) to Simminson &amp; Hutchinson, Brown and Hall, and Samuel Atack, at a total of £73,580. The original junction with the Hull and Selby Railway allowed trains to run into Manor House Street station.
The buildings on the line were designed by G.T. Andrews. All buildings were built of brick, with some stone detailing. The main stations on the section were Beverley, Driffield, and Bridlington; the stations consisted of a two platform train shed supporting an overall roof, with hipped ends, supported by an iron truss construction; the main station buildings were built parallel and abutting to one wall of the trainshed, single storeyed, and of an approximately symmetrically appearance; the main entrance was central. The general large station design include water tank(s) on the platform raised on brick structures containing men's toilets.
Bridlington and Driffield had columned stone entrance porticos. Beverley was built with a double span trainshed, supported in the middle by cast iron columns. Bridlington also had a two road engine shed and turntable. Smaller stations were generally built at the crossing of a main road and the railway, with a two-storey station house incorporating both living accommodation and railway facilities; the station houses generally had a columned entrance portico, or a slab fronted stone doorcase at one entrance. Cottingham station was intermediate in design, with an office range as at the larger stations, with attached station master's house, but without a trainshed.
The station complexes also included goods sheds at the larger stations and at Cottingham and Hutton Cranswick. Andrew's standard design included a through track on one side, with an interior wooden platform and "cart docks" (raised exits) on the far side. The roofs were also hipped as at the station, but with wooden trusses; architectural detailing included round headed arched exits and entrances and matching diocletian windows. The goods shed roofs were extended beyond the main building on cast iron columns, extending the covered area.
Curiosities of the terms agreed with landowners included the provision of a station at Lockington for Baronet Hotham, together with a carriage and horse box for his use; and that the H&amp;S should not compete in the sale of coal at Lockington and surrounding area; Lord Hotham had interests in the "Aike (Coal) Beck" a navigable tributary of the River Hull with a wharf at Lockington. The line had coal depots at other larger station sites.
The Hull to Bridlington section opened on 6 October 1846. The line left the Hull and Selby line near Dairycoates outside the urban area of Hull, travelling north to Cottingham, then passing through Driffield before Bridlington. As built it was double track and also incorporated the then new telegraph system.
York and North Midland (Bridlington branch).
The branch from Seamer to Bridlington was surveyed by John Cass Birkinshaw, who estimated a cost of £87,000. The York and North Midland Railway (Bridlington Branch) Act was passed on 23 June 1845, enabling a branch of from Seamer to Bridlington.
Construction of the line was let in two contracts, divided at Filey; both were let to Richard and Joseph Crawshaw, who bid £31,227 and £90,669 for the northern and southern sections. The contract for the line's buildings was given to Atack, at a cost of £13,167.
The route passed over hilly ground of the Yorkshire Wolds, passing Bempton, Hunmanby and close to Filey from Bridlington to Seamer. The Filey-Bridlington section was double tracked as built, and included gradients of up to 1 in 92, with one section with a minimum curve of ; the section had 18 brick bridges some with stone imposts, and two girder bridges with spans of . The section from Seamer to Filey was in length, and without any significant obstacles – there were no bridges required on the section.
The section's buildings were to a similar design to those on the Hull–Bridlington section, with Filey station the only 'large' station design on the route. (See § Bridlington branch.)
The Seamer to Filey section opened on 5 October 1846, with a celebration and dinner taking place in Filey. The final link from Bridlington to Filey opened on 20 October 1847, the section west of Hunmanby had required extensive earthwork.
Openings (1846).
The Hull–Bridlington section opened on 6 October 1846. A train of 44 carriages arrived in Hull together with George Hudson and other directors, another 22 coaches were attached and the train set, propelled by the engines "Hudson", "Antelope" and "Aerial" of the Railway Foundry, Leeds. A luncheon for over 900 took place in the Bridlington goods station. The main party then returned to Hull where a grand banquet took place.
Initially five trains per day were run between Hull and Bridlington, with the journey taking around 2 hours. The rates of passage were: 3, 2 and 1½ d per mile for first, second and third class passengers.
The Seamer–Filey section was opened on 5 October 1846, with a procession followed by a dinner at Filey, attended by George Hudson, J. H. Lowther, the Lord Mayor of York, F. Trench and others at the house of Mr. Bentley ("Ravine Villa"). The Bridlington–Filey section opened 20 October 1847.
"See also individual station and town articles"
History (1846–present).
Originally the Hull terminus was at Manor House Street station (Railway Street) next to Humber Dock; from Hull trains travelled first west along the Hull to Selby line before turning north at Dairycoates.
A new Hull terminus at Paragon Street (Paragon station) opened in 1848; as part of the works chords were constructed connecting the terminus to the Bridlington branch, as well as a westward chord at the original Hull and Selby/Bridlington branch junction. The original Dairycoates to Cottingham section remained in use, being used for freight, and as a cut off avoiding Hull for trains to Bridlington from West Yorkshire. In 1851 a branch was opened from Bridlington station to Bridlington harbour; it was out of use by 1866.
The Malton and Driffield Junction Railway opened 1853, connecting at "Driffield junction" south-west of the station. In 1865 the Beverley to Market Weighton line was opened, connecting at a junction north of Beverley station.
In the second half of the 19th century rail connected facilities at Beverley and Driffield substantially increased, with additional goods sheds, as well as independent firms operating alongside the railway with connected sidings – agriculture related industries were the norm, with the large "East Riding Maltkilns", built 1873–4 at Beverley, and the "Driffield and East Riding Pure Linseed Cake Company", founded 1861 in Driffield, amongst others.
In 1869 the only parts of the line to have block signalling were the junctions at Seamer and Beverley, and at the two termini. In the early 1870s, following serious accidents due to human error in setting points, the NER began to introduce point interlocking on all its lines. The work on the Hull–Scarborough line was completed by 1875.
Ticket platforms were provided at Beverley, Driffield and Filey from the 1860s to around the 1890s.
In 1885 the Scarborough and Whitby Railway opened, which connected via a short tunnel under Falsgrave Road ("Falsgrave tunnel") to the line south out of Scarborough at a junction leading southward; trains on the line terminated in Scarborough station after reversing. In around 1904 a junction was made for a short siding to the "Mill Dam pumping station" north of Cottingham. Bridlington gained a new three road engine shed and turntable in 1892.
In June 1908 an additional station in Scarborough opened, the Scarborough Excursion station, later known as "Scarborough Londesborough Road". The station was intended to ease congestion at Scarborough station and on the track leading to it. The main feature was a single through platform and a large concourse for the marshalling of passengers. The station's siting allowed trains to travel without reversing to or from carriage sidings on the Scarborough–Whitby line north of the Falsgrave tunnel which had been built at around the same time.
Bridlington station had been extended in 1873, and 1892, and in 1911–12 was extensively remodelled with the addition of new platforms and a station concourse and new offices. An additional building for refreshment rooms was added alongside the concourse in 1922–23. Structural problems with Driffield station's roof led it to being replaced with steel awnings in 1904; the roof at Beverley station was replaced with a single span design in 1908.
First World War requirements for railway track for use in France led to the singling of the line sections between Flamborough and Bempton, and Speeton and Hunmanby in 1917. The sections were then worked by the Electric Token Tablet Block system. The line was redoubled in 1923.
In 1947 a short branch section opened to Filey Holiday Camp, accessible from up and down directions via a triangle of track. Cayton