Ilkley railway station
Encyclopedia
Ilkley railway station is a railway station in Ilkley
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...

, in the City of Bradford
City of Bradford
The City of Bradford is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden and...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. On the Wharfedale Line
Wharfedale Line
The Wharfedale Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. The service connects Ilkley with Leeds and Bradford, and is operated by Northern Rail. West Yorkshire Metrocards are available for use on the line, covering Zones 3 - 5...

, it is served by Class 333
British Rail Class 333
The British Rail Class 333 electric multiple units were built by Siemens and CAF are based on the Class 332 trains operated by Heathrow Express.-Description:...

 electric trains run by Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...

, who also manage the station.

Services

During Monday to Saturday, daytime services run to/from Leeds and Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

 twice per hour. In the evening, services are hourly to/from both Leeds and Bradford Forster Square. On Sundays, services are hourly to/from Leeds and every two hours to/from Bradford.

History

Ilkley station was opened as a terminus in August 1865 by the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway was a railway line running between the towns of Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The line was a managed and run jointly by the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway and was long...

 (Midland
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 and North Eastern
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...

 railways). A subsequent extension of the line opened in 1888 to Skipton
Skipton
Skipton is a market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the course of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, on the south side of the Yorkshire Dales, northwest of Bradford and west of York...

 via Addingham
Addingham
Addingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of West Yorkshire. It is situated on the A65, west of Ilkley, north west of Bradford and around north west of Leeds. It is located in the valley of the River Wharfe and is only from the Yorkshire Dales National Park...

, Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey is the estate within which is located the ruined 12th-century Augustinian Bolton Priory in North Yorkshire, England. It gives its name to the parish of Bolton Abbey.-Bolton Priory:...

 and Embsay
Embsay
Embsay is a village in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England and is situated about 2 miles north-east of Skipton. The village is grouped with the neighbouring village of Eastby in the civil parish of Embsay with Eastby, which has a population of 1,758.-Landmarks:The rock formation to the...

 saw the station assume the status of a junction. Terminating trains only used the bay Platform
Bay platform
Bay platform is a railway-related term commonly used in the UK and Australia to describe a dead-end platform at a railway station that has through lines...

 1, as the lack of a facing crossover on the approach lines meant that Platform 2 was not available as a terminating road. Platform 2 was only available as a departure road for trains that were first drawn back towards Ben Rhydding, and then shunted back into the bay. A carriage storage siding was originally provided between Platforms 1 and 2, explaining the wide gap between the current lines in this location. The facing crossover was finally installed during the remodelling of the station approaches in 1983, thus allowing terminating trains to directly access Platform 2.

The through lines were served by Platforms 3 (in the down direction) and 4 (up). The lines continued through the back wall of the station and immediately crossed over Brook Street by way of a Bowstring girder bridge of 25.9 m span. This extension eventually fell victim to Dr Beeching's Reshaping of Britain's Railways
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...

report. It was closed to passengers in 1965 and to all traffic at the beginning of 1966, reducing Ilkley to a terminus once more. The track alongside both Platforms 3 and 4 remained in place for a time following closure as a through route, with Platform 3 seeing occasional peak-time passenger use, and Platform 4 very occasional engineering use as a stabling siding. The subway leading from the main station concourse to Platform 4 and the back entrance of the station on Railway Road was closed in 1983 owing to the deterioration of the glass roof above it. Much of the glass in the main roof at this side of the station was removed at this stage, and Platforms 3 and 4 were permanently closed and the track lifted.

Goods traffic was catered for by a yard comprising nine sidings and three through roads situated on the south eastern side of the station, in the area now occupied by Tesco's supermarket and car park. A large stone built shed and attached offices was situated on one of the through lines. A five ton hand-cranked crane stood to the east of the shed. The yard closed for all freight except coal on 1 February 1965, and to all traffic on 7 August 1967. The last two wagons were removed on 9 August 1967 after which the yard sidings stood derelict until removed in the mid 1970s.

The original engine shed, dating from the opening of the line was on the site now occupied by the station car park. In a subsequent development, a two road engine shed and two coaling sidings, together with a 50 foot (15.24 m) turntable were provided on the northern side of the approach lines, and the original facility demolished. The Ilkley brewery building was also provided with a single 475 foot (144 metres) long siding that also served as the headshunt for access to the engine shed area. The shed itself closed in January 1959 with the introduction of DMU passenger services.

In the late 1980s, the roofed area covering the western end of the station platforms was closed in and converted into a small supermarket, the lines being shortened by around 40 metres to make room for this alteration. The main station building was taken out of railway use and turned over to retail in May 1988. The area between former Platforms 3 and 4 (the Skipton through lines) was infilled during electrification work and is now a carpark. The vehicle ramp leading up from Station Road passes through the area once occupied by the coal drops at the eastern end of Platform 4.

The line was electrified at 25 kV AC in 1995, and was initially worked by three car Class 308 EMUs.

Ilkley is notable in that it was the last British Rail station to be lit by gas. The gas lights were extinguished for the last time on 8 May 1988.

In November 2011, a major refurbishment of the station, which cost £625,000, was completed. This new upgrade included the construction of a brand new station building with a ticket office, a heated waiting room and new shelters, also providing space for passengers to await trains. Also added were new customer information screens, a comprehensive CCTV system and improved PA system, and new gates at the entrance of the station.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK