Hull and Doncaster Branch

Hull and Doncaster Branch
Overview
Other name(s)	Staddlethorpe Junction to Thorne Junction
History
Opened	1869
Technical
Track length	14.5 miles (23.3 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend Staddlethorpe Junction Selby Line Saltmarshe Skelton Viaduct over River Ouse Goole Potter's Grange Junction Pontefract Line Knottingley and Goole Canal (Aire and Calder Navigation) Dutch River Axholme Joint Railway Thorne North Stainforth and Keadby Canal South Humberside Main Line

The Hull and Doncaster Branch is a secondary main railway line in England, connecting Kingston upon Hull to South Yorkshire and beyond via a branch from the Selby Line near Gilberdyke to a connection to the Doncaster–Barnetby line at a junction near Thorne 8 miles north-east of Doncaster.

The line was sanctioned by parliament in 1864, and opened in 1869; much of the line is flat, with extensive straight sections; the crossing of the River Ouse required a major bridge, the Skelton Viaduct (or Goole swing bridge). There are two minor stations on the line Saltmarshe and Thorne North; the present Goole railway station was also created as part of the line, replacing an earlier terminus in the docks.