Today, all Northern Trains services calling at the station reverse here, arriving and departing from the former northbound platform 1.

Platform 2 was brought back into permanent use in December 2023 to accommodate extra services as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade project.

[2] A short time later, an east to north curve was constructed between Whitwood and Methley junctions (the latter on the North Midland Railway main line) to create the first through route between York and Leeds – it would remain the primary route between the two cities until 1869 and also carry services between Leeds and Hull for a number of years thanks to the machinations of George Hudson.

Thus by the end of the nineteenth century the station (by now known as Castleford Central) had an impressive range of services to choose from, with regular links to Leeds, Wakefield and on towards Manchester Victoria through the Calder Valley as well as to York.

Longer distance destinations (including Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham and London) were also available by means of a change at Normanton.

The Methley Joint line fell victim to the Beeching Axe on 2 November 1964[3] whilst the L&Y station at Cutsyke suffered a similar fate on 7 October 1968[4] – trains from Pontefract thereafter using the aforementioned curve to reach Central, where they reversed before continuing to Leeds via Whitwood Junction (although the direct line remained in use for freight until 23 February 1981).

TransPennine Express operates an hourly Monday to Saturday service each way between Manchester Piccadilly and York (these trains start/terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate on Sundays)[11].