Glasshoughton railway station

Glasshoughton railway station serves Glasshoughton, Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Pontefract Line, operated by Northern, 12 miles (19 km) south-east of Leeds. It was opened by West Yorkshire Metro on 21 February 2005. It is located near to the Xscape indoor ski slope and leisure complex near Castleford, all of which occupy the former site of Glasshoughton Colliery which ceased winding coal in 1986. Demand for the new station was seriously under-estimated by Metro. For example, passenger journeys in 2008/09 were forecast to be 50,989 but were actually 135,279. This was chiefly because usage was modelled on the basis of demand for travel by current local residents and businesses only. No attempt was made to estimate possible travel to the station for local retail and leisure attractions, nor possible travel by people driving to the 100-space car park on a park and ride basis, e.g. from the nearby M62. Demand from future residential developments at Glasshoughton was also ignored.