Ravensthorpe railway station

Ravensthorpe railway station serves the Ravensthorpe suburb of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the Huddersfield line between Leeds and Manchester, 8 miles (13 km) north east of Huddersfield.

Ravensthorpe
Ravensthorpe station, looking towards Dewsbury and Leeds
Location	Ravensthorpe, Kirklees England
Coordinates	53.675660°N 1.655550°W
Grid reference	SE228199
Managed by	Northern
Transit authority	West Yorkshire Metro
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	RVN
Fare zone	3
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	1890
Passengers
2015/16	36,962
2016/17	42,548
2017/18	38,294
2018/19	35,342
2019/20	35,518
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is managed by Northern Trains, although all services are currently provided by TransPennine Express.

Ravensthorpe station is situated just north-east of Thornhill LNW (London North Western) Junction, where a line branches to Wakefield Kirkgate. There are plans to rebuild the station to the west of the junction, on the route built by the former Manchester and Leeds Railway.

History

Ravensthorpe was a late addition to the London and North Western Railway, with the station and goods shed built in 1890 to attract freight traffic in the area. The line itself had opened some 42 years earlier.

As part of a wider upgrade to the route between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, Network Rail propose to partially grade separate the junction between the two lines and increase capacity for express trains by 4-tracking the route to the west. The new junction design would move the alignment of the Leeds route slightly to the south, meaning the existing station would have to be largely demolished and rebuilt. Network Rail therefore plan to abandon the current station site, and build a replacement approximately 330 yards (300 m) to the west, which would turn Ravensthorpe into a junction station, allowing trains to and from Wakefield to call in addition to the existing Leeds services.[1][2]

Facilities

Ravensthorpe station is unstaffed. The former station buildings, having been damaged by fire, were demolished and replaced with basic shelters. There are no facilities to purchase tickets and so passengers must purchase tickets on the train.

There are timetable posters and a telephone available to obtain train running information, along with digital information screens. Step-free access is limited to the eastbound platform, as the westbound platform can only be reached by steps.[3]

Ravensthorpe is one of West Yorkshire's least used stations due to its relatively remote location, although it does also serve the nearby village of Thornhill.

Services

Ravensthorpe is served each day (including Sundays) by an hourly TransPennine Express service running between Leeds and Huddersfield.[4] This replaced the former local Northern-run Leeds to Huddersfield stopping service at the May 2018 timetable change. A limited number of weekday peak Northern services between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Brighouse also stop here.

References

1. "6. Ravensthorpe and Westtown (Dewsbury)" (PDF). Network Rail. 16 March 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
2. Johnston, Howard (3 June 2020). "Regional News - Ravensthorpe". Rail Magazine. No. 906. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 22. ISSN 0953-4563.
3. Ravensthorpe station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 28 November 2016
4. Table 39 National Rail timetable, May 2019

Gallery

• 
  Platform 2.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ravensthorpe railway station from National Rail

Railways in North Kirklees
Past, present and future
Great Northern Railway to Bradford Leeds New Line to Leeds Howden Clough Upper Batley to Leeds Birstall Town Lower Birstall Carlinghow to Leeds Gomersal Chickenley Heath to Wakefield Batley Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly to Bradford Cleckheaton Central Cleckheaton Spen Liversedge Central Liversedge Spen Batley Carr Staincliffe and Batley Carr Heckmondwike Central Heckmondwike Spen Dewsbury Wellington Road Dewsbury Central Dewsbury Market Place Northorpe North Road Earlsheaton to Wakefield Ravensthorpe Lower Dewsbury Goods (NMR) Huddersfield Line to Wakefield Ravensthorpe original proposed Thornhill Northorpe Higher North Midland Railway to Royston and Notton Mirfield Battyeford Leeds New Line to Huddersfield Huddersfield Line to Huddersfield

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Mirfield		TransPennine Express North TransPennine (Manchester - Leeds)		Dewsbury