stations: both are now closed. Drax Hales railway station was on the North Eastern Railway's (NER) Selby to Goole Line: British Railways closed it in 1964. Drax Abbey was on the Hull and Barnsley Railway (H&BR): the London and North Eastern Railway closed it in 1932. In 1970 British Rail reopened about of the H&BR from Gowdall Junction and a short length of the NER through Drax as a freight-only branch line to supply coal to Drax power station. Drax power station The former Central Electricity Generating Board commissioned Drax power station, located in the neighbouring civil parish of Long Drax, in two phases in 1974 and 1986. It is the largest power station in the United Kingdom, producing around 8% of Britain's electricity, and is the second-largest coal-fired plant in Europe. It has a potential consumption of 36,000 tonnes of coal a day and produces 1.5 million tonnes of ash a year. It is both the United Kingdom's largest producer of carbon emissions, and one of the UK's most carbon dioxide-efficient power stations. Drax Power Station now produces half its output by burning biomass. This is controversial, as the wood pellets it burns are claimed by environmentalists and researchers to produce more carbon dioxide than coal. References External links Drax Village History Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Selby District Villages in North Yorkshire