The railway expanded, by building new lines or buying or leasing already built ones, to serve Hull, Scarborough, Whitby, Market Weighton and Harrogate.

[citation needed] George Hudson, who was brought up in a farming community and started life as a draper's assistant in York until in 1827, when he was 27 years old, he inherited £30,000.

He had no former interest in railways, but seeing them as a profitable investment arranged a public meeting in 1833 to discuss building a line from York to Leeds.

The joint station with the Great North of England Railway, was within the city walls at York,[7] and piercing of the walls was required to preserve the upper walkway; designs by G. T. Andrews and by Thomas Cabry (Y&NMR engineer) were submitted to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society who chose Andrews' tudor arches.

[8] The track was of straight sided pattern at 54+1⁄4 lb per yard supported either on stone blocks or kyanised wooden sleepers.

A service started in September 1834 from a station in Leeds at Marsh Lane, just to the west of a 700-yard (640 m) tunnel through Richmond Hill, and Hull could be reached in about 4+1⁄2 hours.

[13][14] On 27 July 1840 a curve opened connecting the North Midland Railway at Methley Junction and allowing the Y&NMR direct access to Leeds, in competition with the L&SR.

From 9 November Hudson leased the line for £17,000 per year; from then all traffic between Leeds and Selby was diverted via Methley and over the North Midland Railway to its Wellington station.

Amalgamation was proposed early in 1845, but at two meetings shareholders overruled the directors, accepting instead a lease from Hudson at ten per cent of the original capital, with an option to purchase, and the H&SR became part of the Y&NMR from 1 July 1845.

At Beck Hole carriages were worked up or down the incline individually; each summer the landlord of a nearby inn erected a tent so as to supply refreshments to waiting passengers.

c. lxvi), giving approval for two lines to Market Weighton was granted to the York and North Midland Railway on 18 June 1846.

In the three years between 1844 and 1846 Parliament passed 438 acts giving permission for over 8,000 miles (13,000 km) of line, many in direct competition with existing railways.

So as to better promote the bills submitted by the railway companies he controlled, in 1845 Hudson successfully stood as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Sunderland.

[27] In 1848 the Great Northern Railway (GNR) had a line to Askern and the Y&NMR had authority for a branch from Burton Salmon to Knottingley, about 9 miles (14 km) to the north.

When it opened to a temporary station at Hay Park Lane on 30 October 1848, the line was worked by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, but after 1849 this was switched to E. B. Wilson and Company, who was paid per mile plus a percentage of revenue.

[c] T. E. Harrison, who had become General Manager and Engineer of the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, looked at merger with LNR and Y&NMR as the answer.

Negotiations started first with his own board, where he was able to show the increased profit that amalgamation had brought to the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway.

The deal was rejected by the shareholders of the Leeds Northern, who felt their seven per cent share of revenue too low; joint operation was agreed instead of a full merger and Harrison appointed General Manager.

The benefits of this joint working allowed Harrison to raise the offer to the Leeds Northern Railway shareholders and by royal assent to an act of Parliament[which?]

[42] The former Leeds Northern and York & North Midland lines in Harrogate were connected, the permission being given by an act of Parliament[which?]

On 2 January 1871 East Coast trains joined the NER at was to become Shaftholme Junction, travelled via Selby, and then rejoined the old line 2 miles (3.2 km) south of York.

[54][55] In 1963 Dr Beeching published his report "The Reshaping of British Railways", which recommended closing the network's least used stations and lines.

[63] In January 2019, the Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Pickering and Malton which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening.