Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named Paragon Station, and together with the adjoining Station Hotel, it opened in 1847 as the new Hull terminus for the growing traffic of the York and North Midland (Y&NMR) leased to the Hull and Selby Railway (H&S). As well as trains to the west, the station was the terminus of the Y&NMR and H&S railway's Hull to Scarborough Line. From the 1860s the station also became the terminus of the Hull and Holderness and Hull and Hornsea railways. At the beginning of the 20th century the North Eastern Railway (NER) expanded the trainshed and station to the designs of William Bell, installing the present five arched span platform roof. In 1962 a modernist office block Paragon House was installed above the station main entrance, replacing a 1900s iron canopy; the offices were initially used as regional headquarters for British Rail. A bus station was erected adjacent to the north of the station in the mid-1930s. In the early 2000s plans for an integrated bus and rail station were made, as part of a larger development including a shopping centre; St Stephen's shopping centre, a hotel, housing, and music and theatre facilities. The new station, named "Paragon Interchange" opened in September 2007, integrating the city's railway and bus stations under William Bell's 1900s trainshed. The station is currently operated by TransPennine Express, which provides train services along with Northern Trains, Hull Trains and London North Eastern Railway.
Paragon railway station
Background In 1840 the Hull and Selby Railway opened the first railway line into Hull, terminating at a passenger and goods terminal, Manor House Street station, adjacent to the Humber Dock, near the old town. Subsequently, the Hull and Selby Railway entered into working arrangements with the Manchester and Leeds Railway and then the York and North Midland Railway. In 1845 an act of Parliament enabled the York and North Midland and/or the Manchester and Leeds to take a lease of the company with an option to buy the line at a later date – only the York and North Midland was subsequently active. In 1846 the Hull and Selby completed its Bridlington branch which connected from a junction at Dairycoates near Hull to a line the York and North Midland was building from Bridlington to Seamer, connecting to its York to Scarborough Line, forming a railway route from Hull to Scarborough on the east coast.
First railway station, hotel and branches (1848)
In 1846 the York and North Midland and Manchester and Leeds railways began proceedings to create a new terminal station and connecting branch line in Hull. The York and North Midland Railway (Hull Station) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. ccxviii) was subsequently passed. The new station had the advantage of being better situated for travellers, and allowed the old station to be used exclusively for freight traffic. In addition the Hull and Selby company were keen to attract the investment in a new station from the leaseholders, as the capital investment was likely to increase the permanence of the relationship with the lessors. The branches to the station were constructed off the Bridlington branch: a branch turning north-east close to the line's crossing of the Hessle Road; and a branch turning south-east at 'Cottingham Junction' near to Haverflatts farm; the two branches met at a junction 0.5 miles (0.8 km) roughly west of the new station. In addition a new connecting chord was made from the Hull and Selby Line, to the Bridlington branch, allowing direct through running from the west into the new station. The station was located on the western edge of the growing Georgian town, and took its name from "Paragon Street". Construction contracts had been signed by early 1847, before the bill had been formally passed. The station opened in 1847 without any notable ceremony. The station and hotel were both in the Italian Renaissance style, with both Doric and Ionic order elements; the facades show inspiration from the interior courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. The main station building was aligned east–west, south of the tracks, facing onto Anlaby Road – a two-storey centrally located booking hall was entered via a small porte-cochère, and flanked by eleven bay wide single storey wings, with two storey three bay buildings on either end, one a parcels office, the other the station master's house. The train shed contained five tracks and two platforms, each 30 feet (9.1 m), covered with a three span iron roof. The station site was nearly 2.5 acres (1.0 ha).
The hotel was in a similar style to the station, located at the east end of the station with its main façade and entrance facing east. It was completed in 1849 as a three-storey building, nine bays wide, of area 120 by 130 feet (37 by 40 m). The centre of the building contained a 650 feet (200 m) square lightwell with ground glass roof. Architect for both buildings was G. T. Andrews, and represent his last major commission. The station and hotel were described by some contemporaries as "Hudson's Folly", who thought the scale of the development too great; the station was the largest built in England to that time associated with a railway station. By the time of completion of the station hotel George Hudson, chairman of the York and North Midland was in disgrace after his fraudulent dealings had been discovered. The hotel's official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 1851. Additional facilities at the station also included a locomotive house, on the west end of north side of the main shed; a coal depot to the north-west; and a turntable. A new engine shed was constructed in the 1860s, and a 20 engine shed was constructed in the mid-1870s. In 1853 Queen Victoria visited the town, and the use of the station hotel given to the corporation for the accommodation of the royal party; a throne room was created on the first floor, and the royal household accommodated on the second. The royal party including the Queen, Albert, Prince Consort and five royal children arrived on the Royal Train on 13 October 1853 at Paragon Station. The visit concluded with a dinner at the hotel on 14 October.
NER period (1854–1923)
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