Malton and Driffield Junction Railway

Malton and Driffield Junction Railway

The approximate route of the Malton and Driffield Junction Railway. The stations were often a considerable distance from the villages they served.
Overview
Dates of operation	Opened: 1 June 1853–Closed to passenger: 5 June 1950 Closed to freight: 20 October 1958
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	20 mi (32 km)[1]

v t e Malton and Driffield Junction Railway
Legend
York–Scarborough line to York Malton Thirsk & Malton Rly to Gilling York–Scarborough line to Scarborough Settrington North Grimston Wharram Burdale Tunnel 1747 yd 1597 m Burdale Sledmere and Fimber Fimber Halt (opened 2015) Wetwang Garton Selby–Driffield line to Market Weighton Hull–Scarborough line to Hull Driffield Hull–Scarborough line to Scarborough

The Malton and Driffield Junction Railway, later known as the Malton and Driffield branch was a railway line in Yorkshire that ran between the towns of Malton, North Yorkshire and Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire.^[2]

The line was formally opened on 19 May 1853 with full public services starting on 1 June 1853. It became part of the North Eastern Railway (1854), then London and North Eastern Railway (1923), becoming part of British Railways in 1948. Passenger services on the line gained the nickname the Malton Dodger.^[3]

Between the 1920s and 1950s the line saw use transporting chalk from the Burdale and Wharram quarries. Passenger services ended on 5 June 1950; the Burdale quarry closed in 1955, and the line closed on 20 October 1958.

A short section of the original line reopened on 24 May 2015 as a heritage attraction operating as the Yorkshire Wolds Railway. There are plans to further extend the heritage railway.^[4]