Pontefract | Pontefract Castle | Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency) | Mansfield-et-Pontefract, Quebec | John Savile, 1st Baron Savile of Pontefract |
The station lost its ECML status in 1871 when the new direct line from York to Doncaster via Selby was opened, but trains from London to Harrogate continued to call and yet another addition to the list of routes serving the station came in 1879 when the Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway line via Pontefract Baghill and Ferrybridge was opened.
The line was opened on 1 May 1879, with intermediate stations at Ferrybridge (1882), Pontefract Baghill, Ackworth (1 July 1879), Moorthorpe, Frickley and Bolton-on-Dearne (1 July 1879).