Otley | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Otley, City of Leeds England |
Coordinates | 53°54′04″N1°41′29″W / 53.90099°N 1.69138°W |
Grid reference | SE203450 |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Pre-grouping | North Eastern Railway and Midland Railway (joint) |
Key dates | |
1865 | Opened |
1965 | Closed |
Otley railway station was a railway station serving the town of Otley in West Yorkshire, England.
It was opened as a joint venture on the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway, constructed by the North Eastern Railway and the Midland Railway, on 1 February 1865. The station was closed on 22 March 1965. Tracks and buildings have been removed since. The Otley branch line joined Arthington, in the east, to Ilkley and Menston in the west via a junction known as Milnerwood. The length of the line was about six miles [1] and spanned a range of terrain at the foot of The Chevin with a substantial cutting through a sandstone ridge near Milnerwood which can still be seen today by walking the footpath along the old track bed. [2]
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line via Otley which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments). [3]
The trackbed between Burley in Wharfedale, Otley and Pool is to become a cycleway, footpath and equestrian route known as the Wharfedale Greenway, with possible extensions onward to Ilkley alongside the extant railway. Planning permission for the first phase of the greenway was granted in July 2020. [4]
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Pool-in-Wharfedale | Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway or Midland Railway | Burley-in-Wharfedale or Menston |
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The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway was a railway line running between the towns of Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The line was managed and run jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was 6+1⁄2 miles (10 km) long. Opened to passenger traffic on 1 August 1865 and freight traffic some months later, the line ran for almost 100 years before partial closure in July 1965 when the line to Otley closed. Today passenger services run over the rest of the line as part of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) Wharfedale Line.
The High Royds Hospital Railway was a short railway connecting the West Riding County Asylum near Leeds in West Yorkshire with the Midland Railway line between Menston and Guiseley on the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway. The line opened in 1883 and ran for just over 0.5 miles (0.80 km), it was constructed to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge and was a single line throughout. The line closed in the 1930s in the face of road competition and increasing maintenance costs but reopened again in 1939 when the outbreak of war led to a fuel shortage for road transport. Final closure came in 1951.
The Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line was a railway line from Glazebrook to Skelton Junction in Greater Manchester. It connected the Cheshire Lines Committee main line from Liverpool Central to Manchester Central with lines in the Stockport area, allowing freight traffic to bypass central Manchester. It also carried a local passenger service between Stockport and Warrington Central until the early 1960s.
The Wharfedale Greenway is a proposed cycleway, footpath and equestrian route which will run along the route of the former Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway between Burley in Wharfedale and Pool in Wharfedale via Otley, West Yorkshire, England. The railway previously connected the extant Wharfedale and Harrogate lines until its closure in 1965. It will also have a branch southwards towards Menston alongside the remaining railway to Ilkley. The rail trail has been planned by Sustrans and the parish councils along the route since 2010 and was approved by Leeds City Council in July 2020.