USING KNOTTINGLY LOOP (PRE SELBY – YORK LINE)
| YEAR | DEPARTURE KINGS CROSS | ARRIVAL IN YORK | JOURNEY TIME |
| 1840 | 9:30 AM | 7:15 PM | 9HRS 45MIN |
| 1847 | 6HRS 10MIN | ||
| 1870 | 10:00 AM | 2:40 PM | 4HRS 40MIN |
USING THE NEW SELBY – YORK LINE VIA RICCALL
| YEAR | DEPARTURE KINGS CROSS | ARRIVAL IN YORK | JOURNEY TIME |
| 1871 | 4HRS 10MIN | ||
| 1930 | 10:00 AM | 1:43 – 1:49 PM | 3HRS 45MIN |
| 1932 | 10:00 AM | 1:33 PM | 3HRS 33MIN |
Between 1840 and 1847 the Yorkshire and North Midland Railway had reduced travel times from Euston to York from Euston from nearly 10 hours to 6hrs.
Re-routing from Kings Cross via Doncaster the London and North Eastern Railway further reduced it to 4 hours and 40m minutes. The new line from Doncaster via Selby only reduced the travel time by 30 minutes – so why bother?
- Competition with the West Coast line was so fierce even 30 minutes was valuable
- Even more importantly, the line was flat allowing longer trains, both for passengers and freight – increasingly important with the opening up the coal fields.
- The route via Knottingley was complex with many junctions and slower local trains
- Finally, previous routes had relied on using lines run by other, often rival, companies who would tend to give priority to their trains as well as charging fees.
It had taken 31 year to get this line approved and built mainly because of opposition in Parliament from rival companies including the Yorkshire and Lancashire Railway.