A HISTORIC railway station could be reopened as a park and ride station after being bought by a development company.

Goldsborough railway station would be reopened as Flaxby Parkway Station, after developers Flaxby Park Ltd bought Goldsborough’s former station house.

Train operator Northern said in a letter there were “no significant technical obstacles to the delivery of a new station” at Flaxby, which could see a new village community started on the site of Flaxby’s disused golf course.

The plans could reduce traffic in the area, and Matt Johnson, development director of Flaxby Park Ltd, said the new development would offer rail services to Harrogate, Leeds and York, and would support more than 2,800 employees at a proposed business and science park.

He said: “The transport provision at Flaxby Park is a major feature of our development and acquiring the original station house and securing the support of Northern, are both key milestones in our ambitions to create a new park and ride station that will benefit the whole area.

“The volume of two-way traffic that could potentially use the station throughout the day, will make it highly sustainable and significantly reduce traffic on the A59. This is especially true when it’s combined with all the other transport related provisions incorporated into the development, including increased bus services, which could be served by an electric fleet of vehicles, and improving access at the entrance of the site, which already offers easy access to junction 47 of the A1(M).”

The plan - one of three new developments proposed for the area, including Green Hammerton and Cattal - has been scrutinised by an independent inspector and will be examined in public.

Goldsborough Railway Station opened in 1850 and was used by members of the royal family visiting nearby Goldsborough Hall, the marital home of Princess Mary, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who shared the house with husband Henry, Viscount Lascelles, and their two sons George and Gerald.

The station closed to passengers in 1958, and its freight services ceased in 1965.

Plans for the full development - which includes 2,750 new homes, a retirement village, two primary schools, a GP surgery, sports facilities and a new village centre - are available to view on Harrogate Borough Council’s website. More information at flaxbypark.com.