The original Selby station was opened in 1834 by the Leeds & Selby Railway. It consisted of an engine shed by the waterside in which passengers would alight from the train and walk across the road to the connecting boat on the river. This site was just to the south of the present station. Selby was the first railway station to be built in Yorkshire, a fact now commemorated by a plaque on the original building.

Plan of the first Selby station

In 1840 the Hull & Selby Railway opened. The original terminus station of the Leeds & Selby railway was converted to goods use only, and the current station was built. In order to cross the River Ouse, a bascule bridge was installed to the north-east of the station, replaced with a swing bridge in 1891. Ships had (and still have) priority over railway traffic. The new station had two through and two bay platforms, accessed from the south. Selby's second engine shed was an NER roundhouse opened in 1871, in the fork of Selby West junction. A second roundhouse was added in 1898 (the first roundhouse then receiving the appellation 'Old Shed'). The depot closed on 13th September 1959 but was used for some years after for storage of wagon loads of locomotive coal. The Cawood, Wistow & Selby Light Railway (CW&SLR) was opened in 1898 linking the Leeds & Selby Railway to the village of Cawood. Until 1904 the line had a separate station, Brayton Gates, one mile west of Selby. The line was predominantly used for agricultural traffic but also carried passengers until 1930, its final closure taking place in 1960. The shed remained standing until 1963, seeing use in latter years as a venue for Locomen’s Mutual Improvement Classes. After closure of the CW&S shed, the NER erected a 1R lean-to shed attached to the coal stage at Selby main depot for the petrol-electric and, later, steam railcars that worked both the Cawood branch and the Market Weighton line. Another branch was built to link Selby to the nearby port town of Goole in 1910. The Selby to Goole Line ran via the villages of Barlow, Drax and Rawcliffe and closed in 1964.

Prior to 1983 Selby was on the East Coast Main Line. When the National Coal Board began to exploit the Selby Coalfield, a diversionary route for the ECML was necessary so that it would not be affected by subsidence. This diversion took the ECML away from Selby, leaving it a much quieter station.

The new route leaves the old at Temple Hirst to the south of Selby and rejoins it at Colton Junction several miles to the north of the town, where the York-Leeds line meets the ECML. The diversion, which was financed by the NCB, had major advantages to the railway in that it removed a bottleneck from the ECML by avoiding the Selby Swing Bridge over the River Ouse and the relatively tight curve north of the station.

It was the first purpose-built section of high-speed railway in the UK, having a design speed of 125 mph, and predated the first section of High Speed 1 by twenty years.

The original route north of Selby was closed and, in 1989, was converted into a cycle track which now forms part of Route 65 of the National Cycle Network. The section passing Barlby and Riccall was used to build a bypass on the A19. The southern section remains in operation and is used by passenger services to Doncaster and London and by goods traffic heading to the Potter Group freight terminal near the former Barlby Junction, a short distance east of the station on the Hull line.

On Monday to Saturdays there are generally two trains per hour to Hull: an hourly First Trans-Pennine Express service, and either a train from York or a First Hull Trains service from London Kings Cross.

There is generally an hourly service daily north to York. Some services start/ terminate here, while others run to and from Hull. There are two trains per hour to Leeds on Monday – Saturday: one Northern Rail stopping service and one First Trans-Pennine Express service to Manchester Piccadilly. In evenings and on Sundays there is either an hourly or two-hourly First

It was not long, however, before the arrival of railways would ensure the rapid decline in waterborne transport in the area. The Leeds & Hull Railway Company was formed in 1824 with George Stephenson appointed as engineer. He proposed three inclined planes to be worked by three stationary engines for the hilly route out of Leeds, but the remainder of the line was very nearly level.

This L&HR was one of a number of contemporary projects aimed at linking the east and west sides of northern England. The Leeds & Hull scheme soon stagnated, due in part to the stock market crash of 1825.  In the meantime the Knottingley & Goole Canal opened in 1826, turning Goole into a viable transhipment port for Europe.

The growth of Goole as a port to rival Hull was sufficient to spur the Hull-based shareholders of the Leeds & Hull railway into action. At the end of 1828 they motioned that the railway should be built as far as Selby, with the remainder of the journey to Hull being made by steam packet, most importantly, bypassing Goole. The shareholders passed the proposal at a general meeting in Leeds on 20 March 1829, and the Leeds & Selby Railway Company was formed.

The shortened line from Leeds to Selby was resurveyed by James Walker in 1829; he reported that the stationary engines were not required, with tunnels and cuttings being built in their place. Despite strong opposition from the Aire & Calder Navigation, who had a practical monopoly on transport in the area, a Bill was passed by Parliament on 29 May 1830

In 1835 George Hudson formed a committee to promote a line to be known as the York & North Midland Railway, which was incorporated in 1836. This proposed line would join the North Midland at Normanton, a few miles east of Leeds, and it received its Act of Parliament in 1837. The first section of the Y&NMR opened on 20 May 1839 between York and a junction with the Selby line at Gascoigne Wood, with the remaining section to Normanton opening on 1 July 1840. A spur to Methley Junction, giving access to Leeds via a working arrangement with the North Midland, was opened on 27 July 1840, followed by a southbound curve from the Leeds & Selby at Gascoigne Wood. The line was extended southwards to Burton Salmon by 11 May 1840, with another short chord to the junction with the Leeds & Selby opening on 9 November 1840.

The remainder of the Leeds to Hull route was revived by George Hudson as the Hull & Selby Railway. It received its Act on 21 June 1836 and ran almost directly east from Selby to Hull. A bascule bridge was constructed across the River Ouse at Selby, just north of the jetties at the rear of the original Selby station. A new through station to the north opened with the Hull & Selby line on 2 July 1840, and the old station became a goods shed.

With the successful opening of their line, the Hull & Selby Railway was the promoter of
the Hull & Bridlington Railway; an Act of Parliament was passed in 1845 giving permission to build the line which would run through Driffield and Bridlington and onward to join the York to Scarborough line (authorised by Parliament on 5 June 1844) at Seamer. In the same year the Hull & Selby Railway was leased to the York & North Midland Railway, becoming part of George Hudson's expanding railway enterprise.

The Seamer to Filey section opened on 5 October 1846 with the Hull to Bridlington section opening the following day. The final link between Bridlington and Filey, which had been delayed due to difficult terrain, opened on 20 October.

During this period of 'Railway Mania' there were proposals to build 107 miles of new railway in East Yorkshire, not all of which would come to fruition. One of these schemes was for a line between Selby and Driffield via Market Weighton, while another line from York to Beverley would also pass through Market Weighton.

Although four lines into Market Weighton were eventually completed separately, George Hudson’s York & North Midland held powers for a complete route from York to Hull which was authorised by an Act of 18 June 1846, with a requirement that the line should be completed within five years. On the same date the YNMR (East Riding Branches) No. II

The double-track York line opened to Market Weighton on 4 October 1847, and the single-track Selby line from Barlby Junction to Market Weighton eventually opened on 1 August 1848 with intermediate stations at Cliff Common Gate, Duffield Gate, Menthorpe Gate, Bubwith, Foggathorpe Gate, Holme (Yorks) and Harswell Gate. An additional station close to Bubwith – known as Bubwith High Field - first appeared in timetables in January 1859: this finally resolved the lengthy dispute about the siting of Bubwith station.

On the opening of the line eleven permanent way men were employed, plus three coaching department staff, costing a total annual sum of £137.16s. Takings in June 1849 were £2,336, made up of £1,335 goods, £924 passenger, £44 parcels, £30 rents and £3 horse and dog conveyance.  Initially there were only two passenger trains each day between Selby and Market

There was much debate, which included a proposal to build a completely new line from Market Weighton to Brough. In 1860 the NER eventually agreed to build the line to Beverley as originally planned, and an Act was granted on 30 June 1862, with work starting in September that year.  The single-track extension opened on 1 May 1865.  

At this time the NER had no plans to extend eastward from Market Weighton to Driffield. In 1884 an independent company, the Scarborough Bridlington & West Riding Junction Railway, projected a route from Seamer; this would bypass Bridlington then pass through through Driffield and Market Weighton, from where it would turn south-west to reach to Howden.

Construction started in 1888, and the line opened on 21 April 1890 with intermediate stations at Enthorpe, Middleton-on-the-Wolds, Bainton and Southburn. From the outset the Driffield line had a good service, with most trains running on to Bridlington. There were, however, only three through trains between Selby and Bridlington, two morning (down) trains with one in the evening from Selby and one mid-morning up train and two in the evening; this could hardly be described as a regular service.The Scarborough Bridlington & West Riding Junction Railway was purchased by the NER in 1914. By 1922 the line had settled down to a more regular service with five through down trains and four up trains, and an additional short-running service between Bridlington and Market Weighton.

On 29 May 1899 there was a meeting between the Escrick and Flaxton rural district councils and the NER to apply for a Light Railway Order for a line to run from Foss Islands, York, to Cliff Common on the Selby and Driffield line.  There were no objections from NER, and the Board of Trade granted the Derwent Valley Light Railway Order in 1902. Four parish councils were against the new line as were 260 individual landowners and ratepayers, and the two councils who had originally promoted the line were now deterred by the high cost, so the powers were allowed to lapse. A new order was granted in 1907, and a new company was inaugurated with capital of £81,000 in £1 shares.

This time the councils supported the line, as did local farmers who were eager to use the new facility to get their produce to market. The line opened in stages with the first section between Cliff Common and Wheldrake opening to goods traffic on 29 October 1912; it was an immediate success. The whole line, 20 miles and 19 chains in length, opened to passenger traffic on 21 July

At Cliff Common the DVLR ran into its own platform on the north side of the Selby and Driffield down platform.  At this time there was a direct connection with the Selby – Driffield line, which was to prove useful during WW1 when the NER ran some of its Selby - York trains to Cliff Common and then onto the DVLR to York instead of using the East Coast main line.

During the 1920s, however, passenger numbers on the DVLR dropped rapidly from 49,000 at the end of the First World War to just 18,000 in 1925 as bus services spread into the countryside. In 1926 passenger services ended, although special excursions did run from time to time. Goods traffic, however, continued to prosper. By BR days this direct connection at Cliff Common had been removed, with a convoluted route through sidings now providing the only connection between the two lines.

Following the 1923 general grouping, the LNER improved the service on both the York and Selby lines, with a fast service provided for commuters between Bridlington and Leeds which was achieved in 1 hour 35 minutes. The LNER also experimented with a petrol/electric railcar between Selby and Market Weighton.  The 1903-built railcar and its shed at Selby were destroyed in an accidental fire in 1926.  A number of steam railmotors were then acquired, and in 1932 two of these were shedded at Selby with another at Bridlington; they made two daily return trips, one mid-morning and the other mid-afternoon.

WW2 brought a reduction in the service, with three daily trains in each direction calling at all stations between Selby and Driffield, and different stops for each service between Driffield and Bridlington. At this time the railmotors were also still in use. After the war there was little improvement to the service; in 1950 there were three through trains in each direction with

While the Market Weighton to York service still carried a reasonable number of local passengers, many of the stations on the Selby line were little used: in 1940 Menthorpe Gate took only £17 in passenger fares while Foggathorpe and High Field generated only £29 and £43 respectively. Only Southburn (£477 P/A) and Middleton-in-the-Wolds (£1,615 P/A) were taking more than £1 a day!

A limited passenger service between Selby and Bridlington was retained, with one morning train from Selby returning from Bridlington in the evening. There was an additional morning train from Bridlington to Market Weighton with a connection for York, but this was withdrawn before the line closed. Final closure of the line to all passenger traffic was proposed for 15 June 1964. There was an appeal, but it only delayed the inevitable as the Transport Users' Consultative Committee said that they could see no way of alleviating hardship for the very small number who would be affected. The end came on 14 June 1965, and, with the closure of Holme Moor and Everingham goods depots on 2 August 1965, the whole route was completely defunct. Summer excursions which formerly used the line would in future be diverted via Hull.

The closure of the Selby - Driffield line meant that the DVLR had now become a dead-end branch from York with the result that the section from Wheldrake to Cliff Common, which had opened first of all, was abandoned from 9 February 1965. Elvington to Wheldrake followed on 19 June 1968 and Dunnington - Elvington on 19 January 1973. The DVLR closed

On the York - Beverley line, the position was rather different. The introduction of diesel multiple units saw a general acceleration of the service which proved popular, but this line too was to fall under the Beeching Axe.Some stations had closed before the 1960s, but passenger services on this line were withdrawn on 29 November 1965, and the remaining stations at Earswick, Stamford Bridge, Pocklington, Londesborough, Market Weighton and Kipling Cotes closed.

Today most of the Selby route is traceable, with a 13-mile section between Bubwith and Market Weighton now reopened to cyclists and pedestrians as the Bubwith Rail Trail. There is some evidence to be seen at all of the stations and at some of the goods yards.

Sources:

• The Selby & Driffield Railway by C T Goode Published by the author 1993
  ISBN 1 870313 13 5
• Railway stations of the North East by K Hoole (David & Charles 1985)
• Pocklington History web site
• Derwent Valley Railway
• Wikipedia (various)
• Railway Passengers Stations in England, Scotland & Wales by M E Quick (RCHS 2009)

Tickets from Michael Stewart, Bradshaw from Chris Totty, route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see other stations on the Selby & Driffield Railway click on the station name: Cliff Common, Duffield Gate, Menthorpe Gate, Bubwith, High Field,
Foggathorpe, Holme Moor, Everingham, Market Weighton, Enthorpe,
Middleton-on-the-Wolds, Bainton, Southburn & Driffield