Wakefield Kirkgate railway station is a railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike the nearby Wakefield Westgate railway station, Kirkgate is unstaffed. The station is managed by Northern but also served by Grand Central. It is on the Hallam, Pontefract and Huddersfield lines. It has a limited number of services to London King's Cross. History The original Kirkgate station opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1840 was the only station in Wakefield until Westgate was opened in 1867. The railway station building dates from 1854. Some demolition work took place in 1972, removing buildings on the island platform and the roof with its original ironwork canopy which covered the whole station. A wall remains as evidence of these buildings. After this, Kirkgate was listed in 1979. Since Westgate developed as Wakefield's main railway station, Kirkgate was neglected for many years and deteriorated until it was in a poor state of repair. In January 2008 the former goods warehouse was demolished to make way for a depot for Network Rail. In October 2008, part of the station wall collapsed, destroying a parked car. The station is unstaffed and, despite the presence of CCTV, it suffered from crime. A rape, a serious assault and several robberies took place there. In July 2009, Kirkgate station was visited by Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis who dubbed it "the worst medium-large station in Britain". Local consensus was that the state of its facilities discouraged its use. Refurbishment 2013–15 Following a campaign supported by the Wakefield Express newspaper, plans to redevelop the station were formulated. In July 2011, Wakefield Council was asked to decide upon a £500,000 grant to the environmental regeneration charity Groundwork UK as part of its £4 million Kirkgate project in which new life would be breathed into the area. The proposal was approved and funds raised in March 2013. The work was carried out in two phases between 2013 and 2015. Work completed by June 2013 included the following items: Removal of life-expired and unused canopies Refurbishment and reglazing of the Leeds-bound canopy Creation of new entrances to the subway Installation of electronic information screens on the platforms and entrance hall A second phase of work, completed in September 2015, included Units for new businesses Café Retail outlet Exhibition spaces Meeting rooms for community and local business Accommodation for Groundwork Wakefield Grand Central opened a first class