This feat was possible because the Y&NMR decided against the more costly and time-consuming option of building a tunnel through the Howardian Hills south of Malton.

Instead the chosen route meanders with the River Derwent for around four miles, creating a slower but more scenically pleasant experience for passengers.

The railway line was opened with a ceremony for invited guests who were taken by George Hudson on a train of two engines and 40 first class coaches, which left York at 11.00 am.

These services were already seeing a significant decline in passenger numbers prior to their withdrawal due to increased bus competition in the area.

Network Rail spent £6 million on the entire project and used boats and pontoons floated on the River Ouse to reach the bridge.

[8] All supervised and automatic crossings and the residual seven signal boxes en route will be closed and control handed over to the York Rail Operating Centre by 2025.

There is also talk of reinstating the pre-1965 link to Pickering to connect the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to the national network from its southern end, allowing trains from Malton and beyond to reach Whitby.

[14] On 25 August 1845 the 12.15 train from York came off the rails a quarter of a mile south of Kirkham Abbey, in the vicinity of Crambe, due to subsidence of an embankment beside the River Derwent.