York–Beverley line
The York–Beverley line was a railway line between York, Market Weighton and Beverley in Yorkshire, England. The line was sanctioned in 1846 and the first part, the York to Market Weighton Line opened in 1847. Construction of the second part to Beverley was delayed for 17 years in part by the downfall of George Hudson, and a less favourable financial environment following the collapse of the 1840s railway bubble; the North Eastern Railway revived and completed the scheme in the 1860s; the Market Weighton to Beverley Line opened in 1865. The line left the York and Scarborough Railway at a junction north of York and turned eastward, crossing the largely flat terrain of the Vale of York via Stamford Bridge, Pocklington and Market Weighton before making its way over hillier ground via a gap in the Yorkshire Wolds, between Market Weighton and Goodmanham; the line then ran steadily downhill to the River Hull valley past Cherry Burton to a junction with the Hull to Scarborough Line at Beverley. Market Weighton became the junction of two other railways, the Selby to Market Weighton line, sanctioned at the same time as the original York-Beverley scheme, and opened in 1848; and the Scarborough, Bridlington and West Riding Junction Railway (Market Weighton to Driffield), opened in 1890. The line once was a preferred route for trains running directly between the English cities of York and Kingston upon Hull. Before closure the route Hull–Beverley–Market Weighton–York had daily direct trains and was often referred to as the Hull to York line. The line was recommended for closure in the 1963 Beeching report and closed in November 1965. History Background By the mid 1840s lines had been constructed from Leeds to Selby (Leeds and Selby Railway, 1834), Selby to Hull (Hull and Selby Railway, 1840) and from Hull to Beverley and Bridlington (Hull and Selby Railway, Bridlington branch, 1846), all of which were owned or leased by George Hudson's York and North Midland Railway. In early 1845 the Hull and Selby Railway had authorised surveys for a line from its Bridlington branch via Market Weighton and Pocklington to York connection with a junction on either the Great North of England Railway or the York and North Midland Railway, as well as another branch to Market Weighton from its main line. On 17 May 1845 after being approached by interested parties from Beverley, the York and Midland shareholders agreed to proceed with surveys for the line and its branch. A rival scheme, promoted by the York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway running from a related proposed scheme at York, the Leeds and York Railway spurred the Y&NMR to the promotion of an act in 1845 for the Beverley–Market Weighton–York line, as well as other railways in East Yorkshire. An act, the York and North Midland Railway (East Riding Branches) [No.1] Act was obtained in 1846. George Hudson also acquired the Londesborough Hall estate for £474,000 in an attempt to prevent landowners on the line causing