The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.
The Hallam Line is a railway connecting Leeds and Sheffield via Castleford in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. It is a slower route from Leeds to Sheffield than the Wakefield line. Services on this line are operated by Northern Trains. Services from Leeds to Nottingham also use the line.
The Wakefield line is a railway line and service in the West Yorkshire Metro and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive areas of northern England. The Wakefield line is coloured yellow on maps and publications by West Yorkshire Metro. The line was electrified in 1989, between Leeds & Wakefield Westgate, as part of the programme to electrify the East Coast Main Line.
Wakefield Westgate railway station is a mainline railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It is 10 miles (16 km) south of Leeds to the west of the city centre, on the Wakefield Line and Leeds branch of the East Coast Main Line.
The Pontefract line is one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. The service is operated by Northern, and links Wakefield and Leeds with Goole via Pontefract. The Metro timetable for the line also includes services operated as the Dearne Valley line between York and Sheffield via Pontefract.
Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. The Leeds City Ward is called Kippax and Methley. It is within the triangle formed by Leeds, Castleford and Wakefield, and between the confluence of the River Aire and River Calder. The latter is crossed by Methley Bridge, the A639 road, about a mile south-east of the village.
Castleford railway station serves the town of Castleford in West Yorkshire. It lies on the Hallam and Pontefract lines, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Leeds.
Pontefract Monkhill railway station is the busiest station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Pontefract Line managed by Northern but is also served by Grand Central and is 14 miles (23 km) south east of Leeds.
Knottingley railway station serves the town of Knottingley in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Pontefract Line, operated by Northern, and is 16 miles (26 km) south east of Leeds railway station.
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.
Methley railway station was opened in 1841 by the North Midland Railway on its line from Derby to Leeds. At one time, there were three railway stations in Methley and in 1950, British Railways renamed it Methley North. It closed in 1957.
Ardsley railway station was situated on the Great Northern Railway between Tingley and Lofthouse and Outwood on the main line and west of Stanley on the LNER & LMS Methley Joint Railway. It was built to serve the village of East Ardsley near Wakefield in the English county of West Yorkshire.
Lofthouse and Outwood railway station served the Outwood area of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It was opened by the Methley Joint Railway in 1869, 1876 and closed in 1957. Here the line from Lofthouse Junction on the line between Cutsyke and Methley of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway joined the GNR line between Leeds and Wakefield in a triangular junction, of which the station formed the southern corner. It was situated south of Outwood railway station which was opened in 1988 and south of the bridge of Lingwell Gate Lane.
Methley Junction railway station was one of three stations that served the village of Methley, West Yorkshire, England. It opened on 1 October 1849 and closed on 4 October 1943.
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.
Stanley railway station on the Methley Joint Railway served the village of Stanley east of Outwood, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
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.
The Great Northern Railway developed an extensive network over time, having started in 1846 with the intention of connecting London and York, as well as other major Yorkshire towns. The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire was a major part of that, although the GNR did not succeed in reaching York as it originally intended. By acquiring running powers it reached Leeds, Bradford and Halifax over other companies' lines, as well as Barnsley Sheffield and Grimsby, and then York too. After acquiring local companies it developed a network, chiefly in West Yorkshire. Later it built lines north and west of Bradford into hilly terrain, and these were very expensive to build, and never repaid the initial cost.
Castleford Cutsyke railway station served the Cutsyke area of Castleford in West Yorkshire, England, from 1860 to 1968 on the Pontefract and Methley Junction Line.
