 The station was the scene of an accident on 12 December 1870, when a goods train divided, the rear section rolling backwards towards the platforms and colliding with stationary passenger train, killing 15 passengers and injuring 59 more.In due course the area around Stairfoot became a complex set of railway junctions and fly-overs.Joining the South Yorkshire Railway's line was a junction to the Barnsley Coal Railway, built in two sections to reach the West Riding and Grimsby Railway's main line at Notton, to the south of Wakefield.