Template:Leeds Lines
This is a route-map template for Leeds, a UK city.
- For information on using this template, refer to Template:Routemap.
- For pictograms used, see Commons:BSicon/Catalogue.
Lines[edit]
This map represents past, present and possible future railways within the 2015 boundaries of the City of Leeds. Currently the West Yorkshire Metro advertises nine lines radiating from Leeds station, mostly operated by Northern Trains:
- Harrogate line Harrogate, Knaresborough and York
- Wharfedale line to Guiseley and Ilkley
- Airedale line to Shipley and Skipton
- Calder Valley line to New Pudsey, Bradford, Halifax and Manchester Victoria
- Huddersfield line to Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Manchester and Liverpool
- Wakefield line to Wakefield, Doncaster and Sheffield
- Hallam Line to Barnsley, Sheffield and Nottingham via Normanton
- Pontefract line to Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley
- York and Selby lines to Selby and York via Micklefield
Metro also publish a Leeds/Bradford timetable with trains that run between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square via Shipley, along with Calder Valley line trains serving Leeds, New Pudsey and Bradford Interchange. A regular shuttle runs between Leeds and Bradford on the Shipley route as do London expresses serving both cities.
The Airedale Line also hosts services to Morecambe and to Carlisle via Settle.
All services on the York and Selby Lines are extensions of Caldervale Line trains and the TransPennine Expresses which dominate the Huddersfield line.
The Wakefield Line is also used by expresses on the East Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line and the Cross Country Route. London North Eastern Railway also serve Bradford, Skipton and Harrogate.
York to Blackpool (Roses Line) trains follow the Caldervale route until just before Todmorden, then go through Burnley and along the East Lancashire line via Blackburn and Preston to Blackpool.
Leeds also has one heritage line, the Middleton Railway.
Prior to the Railways Act 1921, which led to the 1923 grouping of railways in Britain, most railways in Leeds were owned by five companies.
- The North Eastern Railway, NER
- The Great Northern Railway, GNR
- The Midland Railway, MR
- The London and North Western Railway, LNWR
- The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, LYR
Upon grouping at the start of 1923 the NER and GNR (along with the smaller East and West Yorks Union Railway) joined the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The other main players all became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The Middleton Railway remained independent, as did the Aberford Railway until its closure the following year.
Opening dates[edit]
The railways shown here were opened in the years shown by the following companies (final pre-grouping owner shown last where applicable):
| c. 1755 | Middleton Railway | Middleton collieries to River Staithes | |
| 1758 | Middleton Railway | Extension to Leeds, Casson's Close, via Old Run | |
| 1834 | Leeds and Selby Railway | Marsh Lane to Selby | NER |
| 1835 | Aberford Railway | Garforth to Aberford | |
| 1840 | North Midland Railway | Hunslet Lane to Normanton and onward to Derby | MR |
| 1840 | York and North Midland Railway | Castleford to Methley | NER |
| 1846 | Leeds and Bradford Railway | Wellington to Bradford via Kirkstall | MR |
| 1846 | Leeds and Bradford Railway | Wellington to Hunslet | MR |
| 1847 | York and North Midland Railway | Church Fenton to Harrogate via Wetherby | NER |
| 1848 | Leeds, Dewsbury and Huddersfield Junction Railway | Leeds to Batley via Morley Tunnel | LNWR |
| 1849 | Leeds and Thirsk Railway | Leeds to Harrogate via Horsforth | NER |
| 1849 | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway | Methley Junction to Knottingley via Castleford Cutsyke | LYR |
| 1854 | Leeds Central railway station | Joint between four companies: | LNWR/NER/GNR/LYR |
| 1854 | Bradford, Leeds and Halifax Junction Railway | Leeds to Bradford via Stanningley | GNR |
| 1857 | Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway | Leeds to Wakefield via Ardsley | GNR |
| 1864 | Bradford, Leeds and Halifax Junction Railway | Laisterdyke, Bradford, to Ardsley via Drighlington and Morley | GNR |
| 1865 | Methley Joint Railway | Methley South to Lofthouse | GNR/LYR/NER |
| 1865 | Midland Railway | Calverley to Menston via Guiseley | MR |
| 1865 | Midland Railway | Guiseley to Shipley | MR |
| 1865 | Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway | Arthington to Ilkley | MR/NER |
| 1869 | North Eastern Railway | Marsh Lane to Leeds City, then called New Station | NER |
| 1869 | North Eastern Railway | Micklefield to Church Fenton and then York | NER |
| 1874 | Bradford, Eccles Hill & Idle Railway | Tyersal to Idle | GNR |
| 1875 | Middleton Railway | Present line to Moor Road | |
| 1876 | North Eastern Railway | Cross Gates to Wetherby | NER |
| 1878 | Great Northern Railway | Stanningley to Pudsey Greenside | GNR |
| 1879 | Leeds, Castleford and Pontefract Junction Railway | NER | |
| 1882 | London & North Western Railway | Farnley to New Station via Farnley Viaduct | LNWR |
| 1885 | Midland Railway | Balm Road Branch to Middleton Railway | MR |
| 1890 | Great Northern Railway | Tingley to Batley via Woodkirk | GNR |
| 1891 | East and West Yorkshire Union Railway | E&WYUR (Rothwell to Lofthouse) | E&WYUR |
| 1893 | Great Northern Railway | Pudsey Greenside to Tyersal, plus Bramley curve | GNR |
| 1894 | Guiseley Yeadon & Rawdon Railway | Guiseley to Yeadon | MR |
| 1895 | South Leeds Junction Railway | Rothwell to Stourton | E&WYUR |
| 1899 | Great Northern Railway | Beeston to Hunslet Goods | NER |
| 1899 | North Eastern Railway | Neville Hill/Osmondthorpe to Hunslet Goods | NER |
| 1900 | London and North Western Railway | Farnley to Heaton Lodge, Huddersfield, via Gildersome Tunnel | LNWR |
| 1915 | ROF Barnbow | ||
| 1932 | Golden Acre Park | ||
| 1942 | ROF Thorp Arch | Thorp Arch circular railway | |
| 1974 | Abbey Light Railway | Kirkstall Bridge Street to Kirkstall Abbey | |
| c. 2033 | High Speed 2 | Methley to New Lane, Methley to York via Garforth |
Notes[edit]
Some lines may appear to kink and bend or even turn back on themselves, even though their actual routes are quite direct. Such instances are merely topological quirks. Dotted lines (
(LSTR) or "interruption" icons) represent tracks outside the city boundary. Full details of such areas are not shown.
Certain simplifications have been made for reasons of space and ease of understanding:
- On this map, lines in blue represent 20th century narrow gauge features designed for leisure purposes. Leeds did have an extensive tram system till 1959. No attempt has been made to depict this or any more recent tram proposals.
- In this part of industrial Yorkshire there have been many mineral branches and industrial sidings. These are largely omitted.
- The most important modern location missing is the complex at Neville Hill depot between the Hunslet Goods junction and Osmondthorpe
- Certain stations shown as passenger stops were converted to handle goods only shortly after opening (Hunslet Lane, Rothwell, etc.).
- Some stations have had multiple names (e.g. Leeds New/City). Others have been resited during their history (Arthington, Hunslet), even if only one site is shown.
- Flying junctions at Farnley, Beeston and on HS2 at Methley are depicted as if they were flat.
- Sometimes flat crossings mean that a later line has crossed the alignment of an older one after it has become disused.
- Some areas, such as Hunslet Goods or Holbeck Junction, have been reconfigured multiple times over the years. Attempts have been made to reflect both old and new layouts, but some simplification may be inevitable.
- Proposed East Leeds Parkway would be next to the A639 Roman road between Castleford and Tadcaster. In 1834, the recently opened Leeds and Selby Railway advertised a Roman Road Halt, presumably on or near the same site.
- Apperley Bridge is in Bradford but its station used to be in Leeds. A new stop (open 2015) is on the Bradford side of the boundary. The proposed Horsforth Woodside is unrelated to the Victorian halt of that name, but only one site is shown
- The Middleton Railway served multiple collieries at its southern end. Only Jane Pit is shown as it was the one furthest from the city terminus. Cassons Close closed in the 19th century and the line was cut back to Kidacre Street adjacent to Hunslet Lane station.
- The Middleton river branch would have crossed over the route of the GNR Hunslet Branch as well as the Hallam/Pontefract line but was out of use before either of them were built.
- The Middleton Old Run is now marked by Moor Road and Old Run Road. The Balm Road branch crosses Moor Road by level crossing. The GNR Hunslet branch bridged Old Run Road after the Old Run itself had closed.
- Armley Mills Museum has both standard gauge and narrow gauge railway exhibits and a very short narrow gauge demonstration line.
- The Methley Joint Railway starts from the Lofthouse triangle, where Outwood station is now located, and remains mostly in Wakefield until shortly before Methley South. Former stops in Wakefield are omitted. The Wharfedale Line enters Bradford district beyond High Royds.
- Many lines approach Leeds through tunnels. Bramhope Tunnel between Horsforth and Arthington runs beneath Bramhope village. Golden Acre Park lies to the south of Bramhope.
- Layouts at the Royal Ordnance Factories were more complex than shown. The four halts on the Thorp Arch circular railway were (clockwise from Thorp Arch station) Walton Platform, Roman Road Platform, Ranges Platform, and River Platform.
- The Idle line from Tyersal (the twin triangular junctions leading to Pudsey, Dudley Hill, Bradford and Shipley) to Shipley also crossed over the Leeds to Bradford line before leaving Leeds' boundaries.
- No firm details of the proposed airport link have been published to date (2015) so the route shown here is merely one possible option.
- HS2 remains in Leeds between Methley and Garforth but the link is indicated using arrows to save space. There are no intervening stations. Beyond Garforth HS2 will also cross the former route of the Aberford Railway.
- HS2 is to parallel the Hallam/Pontefract line between Woodlesford and Hunslet but there will not be a junction at either end as this diagram might imply.