Yorkshire Coast Line

The Yorkshire Coast Line is a railway line in northern England. It runs northwards from Hull Paragon to Bridlington and Scarborough calling at other intermediate stations.

History
The Yorkshire coast line or "Hull to Scarborough line" is composed of two railway lines; from Hull to Seamer the line runs on track known as the Hull to Bridlington line, from Seamer to Scarborough the line runs on the easternmost part of the York to Scarborough Line.

Hull and Bridlington Railway
The Hull and Selby Railway was the promoter of the Hull and Bridlington Railway; an act of Parliament was passed in 1845 giving permission to build the line. In the same year the Hull and Selby Railway was leased to the York and North Midland Railway becoming part of George Hudson's expanding railway enterprise.

The Hull to Bridlington section opened on 6 October 1846, the Seamer to Filey section the day before on 5 October. The final link the Bridlington to Filey section opened on 20 October.

Originally the Hull terminus was at Manor House Street station (Railway Street) next to Humber Dock; from Hull trains travelled first west along the Hull to Selby Line before turning north at Dairycoates. When Paragon station opened in 1848, a new section of track connected to the Bridlington Line halfway between Hull and Cottingham.

The line joined the York to Scarborough Line at Seamer.

Seamer to Scarborough
The northernmost section of track was part of the York and Scarborough Railway (opened 7 July 1845), worked also by the York and North Midland Railway Company.

Closed stations
Between Hull Paragon and Scarborough railway station a number of stations have been closed. These are (from the south end of the line):
 * Lockington railway station (closed 1960)
 * Lowthorpe railway station (closed 1970)
 * Burton Agnes railway station (closed 1970)
 * Carnaby railway station (closed 1970)
 * Flamborough railway station (originally Marton)(closed 1970)
 * Speeton railway station (closed 1970)
 * Gristhorpe railway station (closed 1959)
 * Cayton railway station (closed 1952)
 * Scarborough Londesborough Road railway station(closed 1966)

Additionally Filey Holiday Camp was accessed by a short branch from the main line just south of Filey. The station at the holiday camp closed in 1977.

Incidents

 * Lockington rail crash. On 26 July 1986, A Hull-bound Diesel Multiple Unit collided with a Ford Escort van on the unguarded level crossing. 8 passengers were killed and 32 were injured. A boy of 11 in the van also died.

Current services
Services on the line are provided by Northern Rail; most trains terminate at Hull Paragon station and Bridlington, with some extending to Scarborough approximately hourly. Some trains are extensions of services on the Sheffield-Hull Line and a limited number from the Hull-York Line. First Transpennine Express also operate between Seamer and Scarborough as part of their service from Scarborough to York and beyond.

Services are usually worked by Class 158 DMUs. Summer weekends see services operated by a Class 158 coupled to a Class 153 or extra Class 158 providing a 3/4-car unit for additional capacity. Sundays also see a variety of traction traversing the line to retain crew knowledge; this can include Class 153, Class 150, Class 142 and Class 144

Until recently there was a very limited Sunday service on the line, except during the summer, when trains ran every hour between Hull and Bridlington, and every two hours through to Scarborough. Northern Rail has now extended this summer Sunday timetable to run all year round since the December 2009 timetable change. An increased afternoon and evening weekday service is also in operation.

Route

 * Hull
 * Cottingham
 * Beverley
 * Arram
 * Hutton Cranswick
 * Driffield
 * Nafferton
 * Bridlington
 * Bempton
 * Hunmanby
 * Filey
 * Seamer
 * Scarborough