Doncaster railway station
53°31′21″N 1°08′22″W / 53.52250°N 1.13944°W
Doncaster | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster |
| Managed by | National Express East Coast |
| 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 National Express East Coast. 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 on two islands. Platforms 1, 3, 4 and 8 take through trains. Platforms 2 and 5 are south-facing bays, and 6 and 7 are north facing bays. 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 too. Platform 1 is for the National Express East Coast, Hull Trains and Northern Rail trains.
Whilst all platforms are cuurently operational, platform 2 is not currently used for any timetabled service.
Services
6 train operators call at Doncaster this is equal to other big stations in the UK.
Train operators which call at Doncaster include:
CrossCountry
CrossCountry offers similar services to the North, but offers a more widespread network to the south, calling at places such as Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Paignton and sometimes as far as Penzance.
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains offer a limited direct service to London St. Pancras and to Leeds and York. Services to London run via Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derby and Leicester but less often than National Express East Coast; They also operate a local service to Lincoln which occasionally extends to Sleaford and Peterborough.
First TransPennine Express
First 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.
National Express East Coast
National Express East Coast offers regular direct trains services to London, which can now be reached in 85 - 100 minutes, depending on the service. On some National Express East Coast services, Doncaster is the first stop after departing London King's Cross. National Express East Coast also offers services to the North, to cities such as Leeds(terminating services), York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. On Sundays only the Highland Cheiftan service from London stops at Doncaster en-route to Inverness.
Hull Trains
Hull Trains operates services from London - Hull. Via Doncaster.
Northern Rail
Northern Rail generally offers services from Doncaster to stations within Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, such as 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 National Express East Coast service takes, on average, just 14 minutes.
Other Plans
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.
There were plans to add platforms 9 and 10 to cope with Eurostar trains but this was cancelled.
In the Media
In 1973 the station was featured in the first episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, entitled Strangers on a Train. It starred James Bolam and Rodney Bewes although only Bolam was featured in location filming at the station, which took place in late 1972.
Although it is not known whereabouts in the station the scenes were placed, signs for Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe are visible behind Bolam.
External links
- Train times and station information for Doncaster railway station from National Rail
- Frenchgate Interchange
- Railway stations in Doncaster
- Doncaster's Railways
- Railway stations served by Hull Trains
- Railway stations served by Grand Central
- Railway stations served by East Midlands Trains
- Railway stations served by CrossCountry
- Railway stations served by First TransPennine Express
- Railway stations served by National Express East Coast
- Railway stations served by Northern Rail