Leeds Lines
Past, present and future
ROF Thorp Arch
Thorp Arch
Circular Railway
Thorp Arch
Otley
Micklefield
Pool
Wetherby Racecourse
Wetherby (York Road)
Menston
Arthington
Ledston
Wetherby
High Royds
Hospital Railway
East Leeds Parkway
/Roman Road
Bowers Halt
Collingham Bridge
Apperley Bridge
Kippax
Guiseley
Bardsey
Calverley & Rodley
East Garforth
Yeadon
Thorner
Leeds Bradford Airport
Leeds Bradford Airport
(proposed)
Aberford
Newlay and Horsforth
Garforth
Horsforth
Kirkstall Forge
Scholes
Horsforth Woodside
Barnbow ROF
Kirkstall Abbey
Manston
(1851–1869)
Headingley
HS2 to Methley
Kirkstall Bridge Road
Penda's Way
Kirkstall
Cross Gates
Burley Park
Halton Dial
(1851–1864)
Armley Mills Museum
Osmondthorpe
Royal Gardens
(Summer 1857)
Cardigan Lane Goods
Armley Canal Road
Hunslet Goods
(NER)
Montague's Field
Marsh Lane
Wellington Street Goods
Hunslet Goods
(GNR)
Leeds Central
Leeds Wellington
Holbeck
Leeds (New Station)
Whitehall Junction
New Lane
(HS2)
Holbeck Junction
Hunslet Swing Bridge
Leeds Whitehall
Farnley Viaduct
Whitehall Road Goods
Cassons Close
(MR)
Copley Hill
Kidacre Street
(MR)
Wortley West Curve
Hunslet Lane
Armley and Wortley
Middleton Old Run
Farnley & Wortley
Hunslet
Bramley
Moor Road
Beeston
Balm Road Sidings
Stanningley
Pudsey Lowtown
Middleton River Branch
ca. 1755–1809
New Pudsey
Park Halt
Pudsey Greenside
Leeds Freightliner terminal
Jane Pit
(MR)
Stourton Junction
Tingley
Ardsley
Rothwell
Farnley Branch
Robin Hood
Woodkirk
Cottingley
to Newmarket Colliery
Churwell
Gildersome East
Woodlesford
Morley Low
Outwood
Morley Top
HS2 to Garforth
Gildersome West
Methley
HS2 to Crofton
Drighlington & Adwalton
Methley Junction
Methley South

This is a route-map template for Leeds, a UK city.

Note: Per consensus and convention, most route-map templates are used in a single article in order to separate their complex and fragile syntax from normal article wikitext. See these discussions [1],[2] for more information.

Lines

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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:

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.

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

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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

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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.