The station was built by the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway, a constituent company of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; the route through here opening to traffic in 1848. Later in its history the station was absorbed into the LMSR London Midland and Scottish Railway before it became part of the British Railways network in 1948. Today the station is operated by Northern. The station was until 2014 home to one of the last sets of electrical wheel boom level crossing gates in the world; Castleford Cutsyke Junction, Urlay Nook and Hensall were the final serving gates after the removal of the gates at Brough and Redcar Central. Hensall Signal box has recently been awarded grade II listing status along with 25 other historical signal boxes. The list, announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, includes signal boxes dating from late-Victorian times. Despite its listed status, it was taken out of operational use in May 2014, when control of signalling in the area passed to the signalling centre at Ferrybridge. The boom gates were also replaced by standard automatic lifting barriers as part of the project. Hensall Station was also the site of a small collision in 1949 between a British Railways freight engine and a lorry after failure of a crossing keeper to acknowledge the train and brake van approaching, however it was argued that the signal man never gave the crossing the approaching train signal. It is unknown who caused the incident. The station featured on an episode of the BBC documentary series Great British Railway Journeys in 2015, which saw presenter Michael Portillo travel on the daily parliamentary train from Knottingley to Goole and alight there.
Facilities
The station is unstaffed and has only basic amenities, though the main buildings are still present. Tickets must be bought in advance or on the train, as there are no ticketing facilities. Only the part of the eastbound platform is used, as the section next to the station house is below standard height. A public telephone, two waiting shelters and timetable poster boards are the only other amenities present. Step-free access is available on both platforms.
Services
Hensall has only a limited service - Monday to Saturdays, one train a day goes to Goole and two per day go to Leeds. There is no Sunday service. This service is operated by Northern and is booked to be run with classes 142, 144, 153 or 150 Diesel Multiple Units. There was a more frequent service in place in the 1970s and 1980s, but the timetable was cut in half in 1991 due to a rolling stock shortage and to the present minimal level in 2004. The remaining trains are operated primarily to meet Northern's franchise commitments and to avoid the need for both the station and the Knottingley to Goole line to be put through the formal closure process.
