Bradford has long debated lack of a through railway line | Bradford …
As a result,we have two railway stations,both termini: the Interchange,which is modern,bleak and inadequate, approximately nine miles from Leeds, and Forster Square,approximately three miles from Shipley -which can be seen to have an air of faded grandeur,when it is possible to burrow behind the buildings and find out where it is.”
The words of one of Bradford’s most passionate campaigning MPs, Bob Cryer (Labour,Bradford South, 1974-1983, 1987-1994) are a reminder that last week’s news, reported in the T&A, that the Government is to revise the decision to scrap a train station in Bradford[1],after heavy criticism, has a long history.
Northernrail services have been heavily criticised in recent years for poor service, but to make things worse, Bradfordians have
long debated another issue -the lack of a ‘through line’.This issue pre-dates the opening of a railway system in Bradford in1846.
Its legacy is that Bradford has only two branch lines from Leeds,which end very modestly half a mile apart from each other.
The railway terminus at Bradford Interchange (Image: Martin Greenwood)
Neither station impresses the first-time visitor on arrival that they are now stepping into the sixth largest city inEngland outside London!
There are few services that connect with other cities without requiring a change at Leeds.For example,today only three trains a day go direct to London from Bradford Forster Square and only two from Bradford Interchange.Yet Leeds has two trains an hour throughout the day that go direct to Kings Cross.
Cafe lounge at Forster Square station in 1966 (Image: Newsquest)
Back in the 1830s and early 1840s increasing industrialisation was putting a strain on Bradford’s transport network, as more goods were circulating.
Businessmen preferred a direct train route to the slower more circuitous canal route. The Bradford Courier in 1828 noted: “There are no less than fourteen stage-coaches running to and from Leeds daily, able to carry and generally carrying196passengers; while forty years previously there was only one coach running between Bradford and Leeds.”
Exponential growth in traffic on the Leeds/Bradford turnpike road created wear and tear that made it impossible to keep the road in good condition.
In 1830 the railway came to Leeds with a line to Selby which opened up a route to Hull, thereby speeding the journey to London and the Continent. Pressure was growing for a rail link to Bradford. The issue was debated for 14years, with 14 proposals. Those with stakes in the existing canal system could see the threat and were on the defensive.
The logistics,too,were challenging,because some wanted ‘through lines’ from Bradford to Lancashire that would require expensive engineering to avoid the hills surrounding.
Will the planned new station in Bradford provide an answer to the city’s transport headache, which has rumbled on for decades?
the town.Once again,Bradford’s geography was a barrier to its development, together with the long shadow of nearby Leeds.
In planning the first line in the 1830s, politicians,land-owners and businessmen debated the case for a‘throughline’,and the best route for it.
Existing railway companies such as the North Midland who ran the Derby to Leeds line could not be persuaded to take on the
project,but in1843a new one was formed; the Leeds & Bradford Railway Company, with Robert Stephenson, son of George, the engineer in charge. Stephenson chose the Shipley route. In1844, Parliament at last passed the Leeds & Bradford Railway Act.
Strong opposition to it forced the legal condition that the line should connect at Bradford with a‘through line’ to Halifax and beyond. This promise was never kept; the last attempt was abandoned seemingly for ever in1920.
In1988 Bob Cryerwas lobbying hard for yet another doomed attempt at a‘through line’ linking Bradford’s two separate stations, but in the end without success. In the same speech as quoted above, he went on to describe the attempts pre-World War One to resurrect the original ‘through line’condition: “Yet another opportunity arose in the early1880s when re-construction of Bradford Exchange station was in an advanced state of planning.
A leading local architect was hired by a group of prominent Bradford businessmen to prepare plans for a central station on a through line and the cost was put at£300,000.
But, after conferring on the scheme,the three railway companies, which already had local interests, sent a sharp rebuff to the promoters, saying that the project was unrealistic.One of those railways -the Midland- 13years later drew up its own proposals for a Bradford through line,at an estimated cost of £2.1million; and the scheme was authorised by the Midland Railway(West Riding Lines)Act 1898.
The House was so keen to endorse Bradford’s view that it gave its consent for the extension of time to promote the scheme to build the railway in 1901, 1904and1907.
But the local authority rightly suspected that the Midland Railway was dragging its feet,and so eventually produced yet another scheme.
The Bradford Through Lines Act received the Royal Assent on July25, 1911. But before anything could be done, the First World War intervened in 1914,and in the post-war recession the scheme was again put to one side and forgotten.”
On November 18, 1919 the Midland Railway formally abandoned the Bradford Through Lines plan. By1920all the property in the central area which had been acquired for demolition for the 1911venture was sold to Bradford Corporation.
In conclusion,we all hope that this latest 21st century initiative will finally bear fruit but, to put it mildly, history teaches us not to become too excited about the prospect.
* Martin Greenwood’s book Every Day Bradford provides a story for each day of the year about people, places and events[2] from Bradford’s history. It is available online and from bookshops includingWaterstones and Salts Mill.