Thirsk and Malton line

Thirsk and Malton line
Gilling station looking east. The platforms were behind the Station House and the goods warehouse is on the right above the gate.
Overview
Status	Closed
Locale	North Yorkshire
Termini	Sunbeck Junction and the East Coast Main Line Scarborough Road Junction Malton
Stations	8
Service
Type	Heavy Rail
Operator(s)	North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway British Rail
History
Opened	19 May 1853[1]
Closed	(Completely) October 1964[2]
Technical
Line length	22 miles 52 chains (36.5 km)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	20 miles per hour (32 km/h) Pilmoor – Gilling 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) Gilling – Malton

v t e Thirsk & Malton line
Legend
East Coast Main Line Sunbeck Junction Pilmoor, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough Railway Husthwaite Gate Coxwold Ampleforth Gilling Gilling to Pickering line Hovingham Spa Slingsby Barton le Street Amotherby Malton York–Scarborough line Scarborough Road Jn Malton and Driffield Junction Railway

The Thirsk and Malton line was a railway line that ran from a triangular junction on what is now the East Coast Main Line and served eight villages between Thirsk and Malton in North Yorkshire, England. The line was built after a protracted process due to inefficiencies and financial problems suffered by the then York and North Midland Railway.

The line was opened in 1853 and connected with the Malton and Driffield Junction Railway at Scarborough Road Junction just east of Malton. The entire route was initially envisaged as a through route between Hull and Glasgow, but it mostly ended up serving the local communities on the line. Express workings regularly used it between Scarborough and Newcastle, but they were reduced to a slower speed than usual because of the lower speeds on the rural lines. The line closed to passengers between Gilling and Malton in December 1930. The section from the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to Gilling was retained after closure as the branch from Gilling to Pickering did not close to passengers until 1953 with complete closure coming in 1964.