[2] It opened in 1967 to maintain the locomotives and hopper wagons for a planned 75 Merry-go-round trains a day, expected to use the Wakefield and Goole line.

[6] Later that year, it was renumbered to 55G, however since 1973 when the TOPS system was introduced, the depot code has been KY.[7] At the time that the TOPS system was being rolled out, Knottingley was using a separate computer system called Airepower which allocated the 13 locomotives and 45 traincrew needed to run all the coal trains every week.

[10] In 2016, the depot's allocation consisted of DB Cargo UK Class 60 and 66 locomotives.

Of the three power stations the depot was built to serve, Ferrybridge was closed on 31 March 2016,[11] while Eggborough was officially decommissioned in February 2018.

However, the depot remained busy with gypsum and biomass traffic, particularly for the remaining Power Station at Drax, with workings from the Humber ports at Hull and Immingham.