Haxby: Network Rail's £24m new railway station plans submitted

Network Rail has submitted a planning application for a new railway station in Haxby

Plans for a new £24m railway station near York have been submitted.

Network Rail said the proposed station at Towthorpe Road, Haxby, would be the town's first rail link for almost a century.

Plans for the station were confirmed last year with funding coming from the government's Network North scheme.

Network Rail said the plans would offer "sustainable transport" methods to residents, but some people in the town have expressed doubts about the scheme.

Network Rail said that if planning consent is granted, the final plans will be completed this year, with construction expected to start on site in spring 2025.

Images of the plans show an accessible footbridge with lifts and steps connecting the two platforms, bike shelters, a 154-space car park (including EV charging), taxi rank and a bus stop.

Iain Kelly, Network Rail's project sponsor for Haxby station, called the planning application "a major milestone in the development of Haxby station".

"Haxby's new station will provide residents with greater connectivity and offer more sustainable transport methods which tie in with Network Rail's ambition to be simpler, better and greener," he said.

The station will sit on the York to Scarborough railway line. The town's original station closed in 1930.

Images of the plans show an accessible footbridge with lifts and steps connecting the two platforms

The plans prompted a mixed reaction on one of the town's Facebook groups.

One person branded it a "waste of money" and said for £24m they could of have had "a new doctor's surgery, school, or some potholes filled to make the roads safe for cyclists".

Another expressed concerns about the location of the proposed station.

"Not somewhere I would like, as a female travelling alone, to disembark at night," she wrote.

However, other people praised the plans, with one writing that they could not "wait to commute to Leeds without having to park at York Station and hit all the horrendous traffic through the city centre".

A second person said it would be "great for residents of Strensall and Haxby".

"Instead of having to sit on the bus or in their car, they can hop on the train and get straight to Leeds with ease," they wrote.

The BBC has approached Network Rail for a response to some of the concerns raised by residents.