 LNER Class A4 Dominion of New Zealand which hauled the inaugural train in 1937 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Passenger train |
| First service | 27 September 1937 |
| Current operator(s) | London North Eastern Railway |
| Former operator(s) | LNER BR |
| Route | |
| Termini | London King's Cross Bradford |
| Service frequency | Daily (weekdays only - does run Saturday but not named) |
| Line(s) used | East Coast Main Line |
The West Riding Limited is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom. [1]
The West Riding Limited was introduced by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1937 to operate between London King's Cross and Leeds and Bradford. [2] The company built a new set of carriages, identical to the Coronation sets of 1935 which comprised four twin articulated coaches with two kitchen cars in each train set. There were seats for 48 first class and 168 third class passengers. It travelled from King's Cross to Bradford at an average speed of 63.3 miles per hour (101.9 km/h). [3] The service started on 27 September 1937 when the first train was hauled by LNER Class A4 Dominion of New Zealand which had only entered service three months earlier. [4]
The train was stored for the duration of the Second World War and service resumed in 1949.
The name has been retained by London North Eastern Railway and as of 2024 is operated as the 06:30 departure from Bradford Forster Square, arriving at London King's Cross at 08:59.
King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kingdom and the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line to Yorkshire and the Humber, North East England and Scotland. Adjacent to King's Cross station is St Pancras International, the London terminus for Eurostar services to continental Europe. Beneath both main line stations is King's Cross St Pancras tube station on the London Underground; combined, they form one of the country's largest and busiest transport hubs.
The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, holds the record as the world's fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives; they themselves proving to be worthy successors to the A4s. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen – Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) electrified railway between its southern terminus at London King's Cross station and Edinburgh Waverley via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road. The main line acts as a 'spine' for several diverging branches, serving destinations such as Cambridge, Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln, all with direct services to London. In addition, a few ECML services extend beyond Edinburgh to serve Glasgow Central, although the principal London-Glasgow route is the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is the third-busiest railway station in the UK outside London. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail.
The Harrogate line is a passenger rail line through parts of North Yorkshire and the West Yorkshire area of northern England connecting Leeds to York by way of Harrogate and Knaresborough. Service on the line is operated by Northern, with a few additional workings by London North Eastern Railway starting and terminating at Harrogate. West Yorkshire Metro's bus and rail MetroCard ticket is available for journeys between Leeds and Harrogate.
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.
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Bradford Forster Square railway station serves Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The majority of services to/from the railway station use Class 333 electric multiple units operated by Northern Trains; they run on the Airedale Line to Skipton, the Wharfedale Line to Ilkley and the Leeds-Bradford Line to Leeds.
Doncaster railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is 155 miles 77 chains (251 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between Retford and York on the main line. It is managed by London North Eastern Railway.
Darlington railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the market & industrial town of Darlington, County Durham, England. It is 232 miles 50 chains north of London King's Cross. It is situated between Northallerton to the south and Durham to the north. Its three-letter station code is DAR.
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) northwest of Leeds.
Malton railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the towns of Malton and Norton-on-Derwent in North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the York-Scarborough Line, it is operated by TransPennine Express, who provide all passenger train services. Once an interchange between four lines, Malton station is now only served by trains operating between York and Scarborough. The station itself is south of the River Derwent, and is actually in the town of Norton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which for many years was in a different county to Malton.
Grand Central is an open-access train operating company in the United Kingdom. A subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains, it has operated passenger rail services since December 2007.
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 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.
The Yorkshire Pullman was a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom.
The Harrogate Pullman was a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four companies which operated between 1923 and 1948.