The station was opened by the
Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway on 5 October 1857 as part of their
Wakefield to
Leeds main line. Five days later, it became a junction with the completion of a branch line to
Bradford via
Morley by the
Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway. Both lines soon became part of the rapidly expanding
Great Northern Railway network in the area and by 1866 the opening of the jointly owned
West Riding and Grimsby Railway from Wakefield to
Doncaster put the station on the main line between Leeds and
London King's Cross. The
GNR subsequently became part of the
London and North Eastern Railway during the
Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the
Eastern Region of British Railways on
nationalisation in 1948. The station was eventually closed by the
British Railways Board on 2 November 1964 as part of the
Beeching cutbacks, with the line to Bradford following suit on 4 July 1966. To the south of the station, to the east of the main line was situated the
engine shed which provided the passenger locomotives for the Wakefield services and freight locomotives for the colliery traffic generated in the area. ==Station site today==