Leeds and Bradford Railway

Before the Leeds and Bradford

In the early nineteenth century Bradford was the seat of the British woollen industry, and the greatest wool centre in the world. The difficulty for Bradford was the poor state of transport links, although there had been a Bradford Canal from 1774. Conveyance of raw materials in and finished goods out by animal power was slow and expensive. In 1840 the best passenger connection between Bradford and the railway network was at Brighouse, over 6 miles away: the demand was such that 40,000 passengers annually used the horse-drawn coach link in 1844.

In the early part of the 1830s, the North Midland Railway was being planned; it was to run from Derby to Leeds; the merchants of Bradford asked the NMR company to extend to their town. However the directors of the NMR stated that building a 72-mile railway was already quite enough for them, and they declined. George Stephenson was the engineer of the NMR and advised the Bradford people that forming their own company for a line would be a practical way forward, but this advice was not acted upon. The North Midland Railway opened throughout to Leeds on 1 July 1840.

Formation of the Leeds and Bradford Railway

In reaction to the lack of progress, business interests in Bradford decided to form their own company, and they considered themselves fortunate to secure the services of George Stephenson as engineer, and of George Hudson as chairman. Their company's act of Parliament, the Leeds and Bradford Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. lix), obtained royal assent on 4 July 1844. Authorised share capital was £400,000. This was achieved in the face of opposition from rival groups, one of which intended to use atmospheric traction to overcome the difficulty of the steep gradients their line would involve. As part of the Parliamentary process of gaining authorisation, the Leeds and Bradford promoters undertook to build extensions from Shipley to Keighley and from Bradford to Halifax.

The authorising act also provided for a new Wellington Station in Leeds together with a connection to the North Midland Railway at Hunslet.

Construction and opening

The line was 13 miles in length. The terrain was distinctly unfavourable to railway alignment, and Stephenson routed the line north out of Bradford to Shipley, turning east there. There was a 1,300 yard tunnel at Thackley.

The Leeds and Bradford company built "a splendid new station" at Wellington, in Leeds, the first in the centre of Leeds. Up until that time the Midland Railway had been using a terminus station at Hunslet Lane, some distance from the centre of Leeds and "in an unsuitable district", but now was given the facility of using the Leeds and Bradford station, to the advantage of both companies.

On 30 May 1846 the contractor had substantially completed the construction of the line, and arranged a day excursion from Hunslet Junction, Leeds to Bradford for the directors and their friends. The formal opening took place on 30 June 1846, and the general opening to the public followed on 1 July 1846. There were no intermediate stations at first. The Bradford station was referred to as "Market Street" until its name was changed to Forster Square in 1924.

Public services began between Leeds and Bradford on 1 July 1846 with a regular hourly service, 18 trains per day in each direction on a weekday with five each way on Sundays.

Train services

On 1 June 1874 the first regular passenger service to include Pullman cars went into operation between Bradford and London, the southbound train departing at 8.30am and reaching St Pancras at 2.05pm. The down train departed from St Pancras at midnight with arrival at Bradford at 5.30am. Lucky passengers were allowed to sleep on until a more civilised hour before detraining. In true Midland style this train made history by being the first British one which was both heated and which allowed passengers to move from one end to another, even though they had to negotiate the American-style open ends. However the service was withdrawn after 30 April 1876 so that the Pullman cars could be used on the new Settle and Carlisle line.

Location list

Leeds to Bradford

Leeds (Wellington); opened 1 July 1846; temporary station replaced by permanent building by autumn of 1849; combined with Leeds New station as Leeds City 2 May 1938;

Hunslet Junction;

Armley; opened late September or 1 October 1847; Canal Road added 25 September 1950; station moved from east of Canal Road to west between 1908 and 1921