Shipley railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Shipley


manager = Northern Rail
locale = Shipley
borough = City of Bradford
pte = West Yorkshire (Metro)
zone = 3
code = SHY
usage0405 = 0.831
usage0506 = 0.863
usage0607 = 0.902
platforms = 5
start = 1846

Shipley railway station serves the town of Shipley in West Yorkshire, England.

Train services are mostly commuter services between Leeds and Bradford, and from the Airedale Line and the Wharfedale Line into Leeds and Bradford. It has a few main-line National Express East Coast trains between Bradford or Skipton and London, and it also lies on the line from Leeds to Glasgow via the Settle-Carlisle Railway. It is staffed during the day, but not into the evening.

History

When the Leeds and Bradford Railway built the first railway link into Bradford in 1846, they did not take the shortest route, but a flatter and slightly longer one up Airedale to Shipley then south along Bradforddale to Bradford. They built stations at several places along the route, including Shipley.

In 1847 the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was built from Shipley to Keighley and Skipton, creating the triangle of lines which surrounds today's station. The north curve was opened in 1848 and was on a much tighter alignment than the present 1883 curve. The original curve would pass through the car park.

The Leeds and Bradford was absorbed by the Midland Railway in 1851, and the Midland successively became part of the LMS and British Railways.

The 1852 Ordnance Survey map of Shipley (surveyed between 1847 and 1850) shows the station some 500m south of the present one, where Valley Road crosses the line to Bradford. However an article in the "Bradford and Wakefield Observer" in February 1849 describes the station in its present position. It is not clear whether it was moved in its first few years, or whether there is some other explanation.

The present station was built at some time between 1883 and 1892, nestling between the western (Bradford-Skipton) and eastern (Leeds-Bradford) arms of the triangle. It was designed by the Midland's architect Charles Trubshaw. Platform 3 (on the Bradford-Leeds arm) was lengthened in 1990, to serve full-length InterCity trains. The northern (Leeds-Skipton) arm of the triangle is distant from the main station, and had no platforms until May 1979. Before that time, trains on the Leeds-Shipley-Skipton run had to come through the station to the Bradford branch and reverse. From 1979, there was a single platform there, on the inside of the triangle, so Skipton-Leeds trains had to cross over to reach it. The current platform 1 on the north side was built in 1992.

It is now one of two remaining triangular stations in the UK - the other being Earlestown station in Merseyside. Ambergate station was previously triangular but only retains one platform and Queensbury station was closed in 1963.

Until the Beeching Axe closures of 1965, the next stations from Shipley were Saltaire on the Airedale Line to the west, Baildon on the Wharfedale Line to the North, Apperley Bridge in the east towards Leeds, and Frizinghall in the south towards Bradford. Baildon station closed in 1953, but on 20 March 1965 the other three of these stations closed, along with another dozen stations and the local service between Bradford and Leeds. Most of the services through Shipley were under threat, and hung in the balance until the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive adopted them in the 1970's. Three of these adjacent stations have since been reopened (Baildon on 5 January 1973, Saltaire in April 1984, and Frizinghall in 1987). There are currently no intermediate stations between Shipley and Leeds although there are plans to reopen the station at Apperley Bridge by 2011.

Between 1875 and 1931 there was a second station, Shipley and Windhill railway station on Leeds Road very close to Shipley Station.

Access

The station lies a little to the east of the town centre, across Otley Road, There is no access directly from Otley Road: pedestrian access from town is either via a tunnel at the bottom of Station Road, or from Stead Street onto platform 1. Vehicular access is from the side away from town, under the bridge and up a long cobbled drive from Briggate, and there is a large car-park between the main station and platforms 1/2.

There are no bus stops on the station forecourt: bus connections are either on Briggate/Leeds Road, or in the Market Square. Nor is there a taxi rank within the station: again, passengers need to go into the town centre.

ervices

Most of the services are commuter services operated by Northern Rail, as part of the MetroTrain network. During Monday to Saturday daytimes, these operate every 30 minutes on each of the following routes:
*Leeds-Bradford Forster Square;
*Leeds-Skipton;
*Bradford Forster Square-Skipton;
*Bradford Forster Square-Ilkley.In Evenings a half hourly service is maintained between Leeds and Skipton. Ilkley and Skipton to Bradford are hourly. There is no direct service between Leeds and Bradford but a shuttle from Shipley to Bradford connects with Leeds departures. On Sundays, Ilkley/Skipton - Bradford is every 2 hours with Skipton and Bradford to Leeds every hour. These services are operated by Northern Rail Class 333 electric multiple units.

There are also a small number of trains each day from Leeds to Carlisle or Morecambe (also operated by Northern Rail), and from Bradford Forster Square to London King's Cross (via Leeds), operated by NXEC.

See also

* Railway station layouts

References

* Bairstow, Martin 2004 "Railways Through Airedale & Wharfedale".ISBN 1-871944-28-7
* Chapman, Stephen N.D. "Railway Memories No. 7: Airedale & Wharfedaile" Bellcode books. ISBN 1-871233-05-4
* Dewick, Tony 2002 "Compete Atlas of Railway Station Names" Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2798-6
* Heritage Cartography N.D. "Shipley 1847 (based on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 County Series

* Sheeran, George 1994 "Railway Buildings of West Yorkshire, 1812-1920" Ryburn. ISBN 1-85331-100-6
* Smith, FW & Martin Bairstow "The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway" Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-06-6.
* Whitaker, Alan & Brian Myland 1993 "Railway Memories No. 4: Bradford" Bellcode books. ISBN 1-871233-03-8

External links

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