Doncaster railway station

53°31′21″N 1°08′22″W

Doncaster
General information
Location	Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster
Managed by	GNER
Platforms	8
Other information
Station code	DON

Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line, and is about ten minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by GNER (Great North Eastern Railway). It is a major passenger interchange between the East Coast Main Line, Cross-Country services, and local services running across the North of England.

Description

The station has 8 platforms. Platforms 1, 3, 4, and 8 take trains from either direction. Trains at platforms 2 and 5 run southbound, and at platforms 6 and 7 run northbound. A First Class Lounge for passengers with 'First Open' tickets is available on platform 3A.

The station has recently been refurbished and is now directly connected to the new Frenchgate 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. A branch of WH Smiths recently opened also.

Services

More Train Operators call at Doncaster than at any other station in the UK. Train operators which call at Doncaster include GNER, Northern Rail, Virgin Trains, TransPennine Express, Central Trains, Hull Trains and Midland Mainline. Grand Central Railway also plans on commencing a route from Bradford to London King's Cross calling at Doncaster station, although this has yet to be finalised and is subject to final approval.

Doncaster continues to be an important train station in Britain. GNER offer regular direct trains services to London, which can now be reached in 85 - 100 minutes, depending on the service. On some GNER services, Doncaster is the first stop after departing London King's Cross. Midland Mainline also offer a direct service to London (St. Pancras International) all running via Leicester, but less often than GNER. Midland Mainline, soon to be transferd to East Midlands Trains services are more useful for journeys on route, to places such as Kettering, Bedford and Luton. GNER also offers services to the north, to places such as Leeds(terminating services), York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Virgin trains also offers similar services to the North, but offers a more widespread network to the south, calling at places such as Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Bristol, Paignton and sometimes as far as Penzance.

Northern Rail generally offers services from Doncaster to stations within Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, like Sheffield, Leeds and Lincoln. They provide stopper services, which stop at every station along-route, and 'fast' services, stopping at just the principal stations. It is possible to travel on Northern Rail to Retford from Doncaster, via Sheffield, on a direct train. However this involves a journey of 80 minutes. The direct GNER service takes, on average, just 14 minutes.

TransPennine Express serve stations from Doncaster towards the East to Cleethorpes, and to the West, as far as Manchester Airport, providing Doncaster with a direct link to Manchester Piccadilly. First TransPennine services operate hourly in each direction generally.

There were plans to add platforms 9 and 10 to cope with Eurostar trains but this was cancelled.

Trivia

The station was featured in the 1973 episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Strangers on a Train, staring James Bolam and Rodney Bewes. Bridget Forsyth also featured in the episode, although not at the Railway station.

External links

• Train times and station information for Doncaster railway station from National Rail
• Frenchgate Interchange

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
terminus		Northern Rail Wakefield Line		Bentley
Conisbrough or Meadowhall		Northern Rail Sheffield-Hull Line		Kirk Sandall or Goole
Meadowhall		First TransPennine Express South TransPennine		Scunthorpe
Sheffield		Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route		York
Retford		GNER East Coast Main Line		York
		GNER London-Leeds		Wakefield Westgate
Sheffield		Midland Mainline St. Pancras - Leeds Services		Wakefield Westgate
Meadowhall		Midland Mainline Weekends Only		York
Retford		Hull Trains		Selby
Gainsborough Lea Road		Central Trains Doncaster-Lincoln Line Mondays-Saturdays only		terminus