Leeds Central railway station

Last updated

Leeds Central
Leeds Central Station geograph-2334667-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
Leeds Central Station in 1961.
General information
Location Leeds, City of Leeds
England
Coordinates 53°47′45″N1°33′17″W / 53.795785°N 1.554704°W / 53.795785; -1.554704
Grid reference SE294333
Platforms8
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company
Pre-grouping
  • London and North Western Railway
  • Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
  • Great Northern Railway
  • North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping
Key dates
18 September 1854Opened
1 May 1967 [1] Closed

Leeds Central railway station was a terminus railway station in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1854 as a joint station between the London and North Western Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Great Northern Railway and the North Eastern Railway. It replaced the cramped LNW terminus at Wellington Street, which had opened in 1848 with the line to Dewsbury. It closed in 1967, when its services were moved to Leeds City to consolidate all of Leeds train services in one station.

Railway Clearing House diagram of Leeds in 1913. Leeds Central station is shown in light blue. Leeds RJD 40.jpg
Railway Clearing House diagram of Leeds in 1913. Leeds Central station is shown in light blue.

The station was not architecturally distinguished and was built above street level. After closure, part of the station site became a Royal Mail sorting office, later partially redeveloped as the West Point residential development; the remaining half of the former sorting office site was to have been used for Lumiere, a 170-metre (560 ft) high skyscraper, but eventually became the site of the Central Square office development. A goods lift and a viaduct that approached the station remain extant.

The last train left from Leeds Central on 29 April 1967. This was a Saturday and as there was no Sunday service, the station closed on 1 May 1967. The last train was an early evening service to Harrogate filled by the usual Birmingham RC&W DMU. Detonators were placed on the track by railway staff which exploded as the train rolled away from the platform and past the signal box on its final departure. [2]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearne Valley line</span> Railway line in Yorkshire, England

The Dearne Valley line is the name given to a railway line in the north of England running from York to Sheffield via Pontefract Baghill and Moorthorpe. The route was built over several years and consists of lines built by several railway companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds–Bradford lines</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Pudsey railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

New Pudsey railway station is in Farsley, West Yorkshire, England, on the Calder Valley line from Leeds to Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Huddersfield, Manchester Victoria, and Blackpool North. Lying 5.75 miles (9.25 km) west of Leeds, it serves as a commuter station for the western edge of the Leeds conurbation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bramley railway station (West Yorkshire)</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Bramley railway station serves the suburb of Bramley, Leeds, England. It lies on the Calder Valley line 4 miles (6 km) west from Leeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilkley railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Ilkley railway station is a railway station in Ilkley, in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. On the Wharfedale Line, it is served by Class 333 electric trains run by Northern Trains, which also manages the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holbeck railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Holbeck railway station was a railway station that served the district of Holbeck, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Riding and Grimsby Railway</span>

The West Riding and Grimsby Railway was a railway company that promoted a line between Wakefield and Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England. There was also a branch line connection from Adwick le Street to Stainforth, which gave access towards Grimsby. The company was promoted independently, but it was sponsored by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and became jointly owned by them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guisborough railway station</span> Disused railway station in North Yorkshire, England

Guisborough railway station was the terminus of the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway. It served the town of Guisborough in North Yorkshire, England. The station was opened to goods in November 1853, and to passenger traffic on 25 February 1854. The station was closed to passengers, along with the entire Nunthorpe–Guisborough branch, on 2 March 1964, with freight being lost in August 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensbury railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Adolphus Street railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Bradford Adolphus Street railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Dunstans railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

St Dunstans railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The station was the location of a three-way junction with platforms on two of the lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Exchange railway station</span> Former railway station in Bradford. Yorkshire, England

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowling Tunnel</span> Railway tunnel in West Yorkshire, England

Bowling Tunnel is a railway Tunnel on the Calder Valley line, south of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The Tunnel was completed in 1850 after some difficulty in construction, and allowed trains from the south to access the second railway terminus in the town of Bradford. The Tunnel remains open to railway traffic with trains between Halifax and Bradford Interchange using it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

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. 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 termini 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 Pudsey loop was a railway line in the former West Riding of Yorkshire, England, which served the town of Pudsey and later offered a second connection between Bramley in the east and Laisterdyke and Dudley Hill in the west, in addition to the existing line between Leeds and Bradford Exchange station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway</span> Railway line in Yorkshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire)</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire) was a railway station situated on the Great Northern Railway on the southern outskirts of Leeds, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spen Valley Line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picton railway station (England)</span> Disused railway station in North Yorkshire, England

Picton railway station was a railway station serving the village of Picton in North Yorkshire, England. Located on the Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line it was opened on 2 June 1852 by the Leeds Northern Railway. It closed to passengers on 4 January 1960 and closed completely in July 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodkirk railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

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.

References

  1. Burgess, Neil (2014). The lost railways of Yorkshire's West Riding - The central section. Catrine: Stenlake. p. 56. ISBN   9781840336573.
  2. Bairstow, Martin (1999). "The end of Leeds Central". Great Northern railway in the West Riding. [S.l.]: Bairstow. p. 9. ISBN   1-871944-19-8.