The Leeds–Bradford lines are two railway lines connecting the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire, both meeting in Leeds railway station and are included in the West Yorkshire Metro area system of lines.
Shipley railway station serves the market town of Shipley in West Yorkshire, England. It is 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km) north of Bradford Forster Square and 10+3⁄4 miles (17.3 km) north-west of Leeds.
Baildon railway station serves the town of Baildon near Shipley in West Yorkshire, England. The station reopened under British Rail on 5 January 1973, by the Chairman of Baildon Council, Arnold Lightowler, having been closed for exactly 20 years. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) north of Bradford Forster Square, on the Wharfedale Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern Trains.
Shipley and Windhill railway station was a railway station in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England between 1875 and 1931.
The Leeds and Bradford Railway Company (L&BR) opened a railway line between the towns on 1 July 1846. It extended its line from Shipley through Keighley to Skipton and Colne, in 1847 and 1848.
Queensbury railway station was a station on the Queensbury lines serving the village of Queensbury, West Yorkshire, England. The station was unusual due to its triangular shape, and at its opening the only other examples of this arrangement were Ambergate station in Derbyshire and Earlestown in Lancashire; since then Shipley station, also in West Yorkshire, has gained platforms on all three sides. Of the stations on the Queensbury lines, this was the most ambitious.
The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was an early British railway company in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It built a line from Shipley near Bradford through Keighley and Skipton to Colne. The Skipton–Colne Line closed in 1970, but the remainder of the line is still in use today, and once formed part of the Midland Railway's main line route from London to Glasgow.
Kildwick and Crosshills [sic] was a railway station off Station Road in Cross Hills, North Yorkshire, England. It served the villages of Cross Hills, Cowling, Glusburn, Kildwick and Sutton-in-Craven.
Bradford Exchange railway station served the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1850 to 1973, before being replaced by a smaller, new-build station, which was later called Bradford Interchange. Railway lines from Halifax, Queensbury, Wakefield and Leeds met south of the city centre with services terminating in the station. In the British Rail era, many services did not terminate at Exchange station but became through services which reversed in the station to carry on their journey. Exchange station was originally opened in 1850 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) as Drake Street, becoming Exchange in April 1867 with the arrival of services from the Great Northern Railway (GNR).
The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was a railway line that ran east, south and then westwards from Shipley to Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The route was opened in 1874 to goods traffic and then to passengers in 1875 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and looped around the eastern edge of Bradford. The GNR arrived after other railways had been established in the West Yorkshire area and many of their lines were heavily reliant on tunnels and grand viaducts, the Shipley and Windhill line being an exception to this, although it did have some steep gradients. The branch extended for 8.5 miles (13.7 km) between the two terminuses of Shipley Windhill and Bradford Exchange. The route as built from Laisterdyke to Shipley was actually only 6.5 miles (10.5 km) as the initial section from Bradford Exchange to Laisterdyke was already in existence as part of the Great Northern Railway's line to Leeds.
The Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway (LB&HJR) was an English railway company. It built a line between Bradford and Leeds, and had running powers over the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to Halifax. It opened its main line in 1854 and later built a number of branch lines.
Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire) was a railway station situated on the Great Northern Railway on the southern outskirts of Leeds, England.
The Methley Joint Railway was a short English railway line constructed by the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway company, connecting its Leeds direction line with other companies' eastward routes to York, the north-east, and Goole. The line connected collieries along its route. The BW&LR changed its name to the West Yorkshire Railway at the same time. The line was double track, just over five miles in length, between junctions at Lofthouse and Methley.
Heckmondwike Spen was a railway station opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, England. The station was one of two in the town of Heckmondwike, the other being Heckmondwike railway station which was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&Y). Both stations have been closed and the lines they served have closed too although the formations that they occupied have both been converted into greenways.
The Spen Valley Line was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.
Manningham Engine Shed was a railway depot located in the Manningham suburb of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The depot was built to provide steam engines for services leaving Bradford Forster Square station and freight traffic from the Valley Road area of the city. It was also responsible for other sites at Keighley and Ilkley with Manningham itself being a sub-shed of Holbeck.
The Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway was an independent railway company that built a line between Wakefield and a junction close to Leeds, in Yorkshire, England. It opened its main line in 1857, and was worked by the Great Northern Railway. The line shortened the GNR route to Leeds.
Low Moor engine shed was steam locomotive shed built adjacent to Low Moor railway station, south of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Originally opened in 1866 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the depot was rebuilt in 1890, 1945 and lastly in 1948 when it was under British Railways ownership. It was closed to all traffic in 1967, being one of the last steam sheds in the Leeds and Bradford area.
Woodkirk railway station was a Great Northern Railway (GNR) station on the Batley to Beeston line, which connected Batley to Leeds Central, in West Yorkshire, England. The station opened in July 1890 and was closed in September 1939 to passengers, but the line stayed open until 1964. The station was 1.75 miles (2.82 km) north of Batley railway station, and 6.75 miles (10.86 km) south of Leeds Central railway station.
The Royston to Thornhill line was a Midland Railway venture constructed in West Yorkshire, England, that had the intent to allow trains to travel from Sheffield to Bradford without going through Leeds. The scheme, which was promoted as the West Riding Lines, would have travelled underneath Bradford city centre in a long tunnel and ended up in the Aire Valley providing a through line across Bradford. In the event, only the section from Royston to Thornhill, a smaller branch to a goods station at Dewsbury Savile Town, and a longer branch from Mirfield to Huddersfield were ever built. By the late 1960s, the lines had all been closed, however, the viaducts at Bradley, Crigglestone, and Horbury still remain.
