York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and on the main line it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the station is operated by London North Eastern Railway. York station is a key junction approximately halfway between London and Edinburgh. It is approximately north of the point where the Cross Country and TransPennine Express routes via Leeds join the main line, connecting Scotland and the North East, North West, Midlands and southern England. The junction was historically a major site for rolling stock manufacture, maintenance and repair. In Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins, the station was one of only ten to be awarded five stars. History The first York railway station was a temporary wooden building on Queen Street outside the walls of the city, opened in 1839 by the York and North Midland Railway. It was succeeded in 1841, inside the walls, by what is now York old railway station. In due course, the requirement that through trains between London and Newcastle needed to reverse out of the old York station to continue their journey necessitated the construction of a new through station outside the walls. The present station, designed by the North Eastern Railway architects Thomas Prosser and William Peachey and built by Lucas Brothers, opened on 25 June 1877. It had 13 platforms and was at that time the largest in the world. As part of the new station project, the Royal Station Hotel (now The Principal York), designed by Peachey, opened in 1878. In 1909 new platforms were added, and in 1938 the current footbridge was built and the station resignalled. The building was heavily bombed during the Second World War. On one occasion, on 29 April 1942, 800 passengers had to be evacuated from a King's Cross-Edinburgh train which arrived during a bombing raid. On the same night, two railway workers were killed, one being station foreman William Milner, who died after returning to his burning office to collect his first aid kit. He was posthumously awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct. A plaque in his memory has been erected at the station. The station was extensively repaired in 1947. The station was designated as a Grade II* listed building in 1968. The track layout through and around the station was