Shipley railway station
Shipley West Yorkshire (Metro) | |
|---|---|
| Platforms | 5 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | SHY |
| Fare zone | 3 |
| Classification | DfT category D |
| Key dates | |
| 16 July 1846 | First station opened |
| 1849 or February 1875 | Station resited |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 |  1.704 million |
| 2019/20 | 1.666 million |
| 2020/21 | 0.459 million |
| 2021/22 |  1.005 million |
| 2022/23 | 1.107 million |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
Shipley railway station serves the market town of Shipley in West Yorkshire, England. It is 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km) north of Bradford Forster Square and 10+3⁄4 miles (17.3 km) north-west of Leeds.
Train services are mostly
Shipley is one of only two surviving "triangular" stations in the UK: it has platforms on all three sides of a triangle of lines.
History
When the
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 north side of Shipley station had an embankment of stone which the Midland Railway company quarried for railway purposes, when this quarry face was exhausted, the new curve was laid across the quarry floor.[4]
The Leeds and Bradford was absorbed by the
The station was originally located some 550 yards (500 m) south of the current location where Valley Road crosses the line to Bradford. However, in 1849, a new station was built in the present position between the junctions of the line from Bradford to Leeds and Skipton</ref>[6][7][8]
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.[9] 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 then, 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.[10] At the same time, the Bradford to Keighley side of the triangle was singled as two trains could not pass on this side anyway due to the restricted clearances.[11] The current platform 1 on the north side was built in 1992.[12]
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 to passengers in 1955.[13]
Until the
Between 1875 and 1931, there was a second station,
It is planned for platforms 1 and 4 to be extended, this is to allow for 6 carriage trains in the future.[16] A new depot for electric trains was started in 2024, which is expected to be operational by 2026. The depot is located to the south of the station adjacent to the line towards Bradford Forster Square.[17]
Butterfly meadow
In the middle of the station is a small butterfly meadow. It was opened in 1993 by David Bellamy and is administered by Butterfly Conservation, Bradford Urban Wildlife Group and Leeds Groundwork Trust.[18]
Access and facilities
The station has 5 Platforms in a triangle.
- Platform 1 Skipton – Leeds
- Platform 2 Leeds – Skipton
- Platform 3 Bradford F.S. – Leeds (full length)
- Platform 4 Leeds – Bradford (short)
- Platform 5 Bradford – Skipton and back single line
The station lies 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
The station is fully staffed – the ticket office is open seven days per week and only closed in the evening. Ticket machines are also available, along with digital information screens and a long-line Public Address System (PA) for train running information.
Step-free access is available to platforms 2, 3 and 5. Platforms 1 and 4 can be reached by disabled passengers via lifts (there is also a subway with steep ramp to platform 4).[19]
Services
Northern Trains Route 7 |
|---|
Bentham Line and
Settle and Carlisle Line |
Most of the services are commuter services operated by
- Leeds-Bradford Forster Square;
- Leeds-Skipton;
The below run hourly in the daytime, but increase to half-hourly at peak times:
On Monday-Saturday evenings, a half-hourly service is maintained between Leeds and Skipton. Ilkley and Skipton to Bradford are hourly.
There are also a number of trains each day from Leeds to Carlisle (eight on weekdays and six on Sundays) and Lancaster (eight on weekdays, of which five are through trains to Morecambe plus one that terminates at Carnforth; five call on Sundays; both routes operated by Northern Trains), and from both Skipton and Bradford Forster Square to London King's Cross (via Leeds), which are operated by London North Eastern Railway.[22] The LNER service from Kings Cross must access platform 3 in the station (i.e. it must run 'wrong line') as platform 4, the normal stopping point for Bradford bound services, is too short to accommodate the lengthy express trains. The northbound Kings Cross to Skipton service is the only train that does not stop here for similar reasons (platform 2 also being too short for use by a full-length express).
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leeds | London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line (Limited service) |
Bradford Forster Square | ||
| Kirkstall Forge | Leeds-Bradford Line
|
Frizinghall | ||
| Apperley Bridge | ||||
| Apperley Bridge | Airedale Line
|
Saltaire | ||
| Leeds | ||||
| Frizinghall | ||||
| Kirkstall Forge | ||||
| Leeds | Leeds-Morecambe Line
|
Bingley | ||
| Leeds | Settle-Carlisle Line
|
Bingley | ||
| Frizinghall | Wharfedale Line
|
Baildon | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Frizinghall | Midland Railway Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway |
Saltaire | ||
| Frizinghall | Midland Railway Leeds and Bradford Railway |
Idle
| ||
References
- ISBN 0-946537-11-9.
- OL 11956311M.
- ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
- OCLC 46459891.
- ISBN 1-85260-049-7.
- ^ Bairstow 2004, p. 37.
- Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 414.
- ^ "The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway". Bradford Observer. No. 781. 8 February 1849. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ISBN 978-1-52677-342-5.
- ISBN 9780852068700.
- ISSN 0033-8923.
- ^ Bairstow 2004, p. 15.
- ISBN 9781-871944-44-0.
- ^ "Apperley Bridge's new railway station opens". BBC News. December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-85794-438-9.
- ^ Comfort, Nick (June 2023). "Whafedale platform extensions for 6-car trains". Today's Railways UK. No. 256. p. 18.
- ISSN 0963-1496.
- ^ "Shipley Railway Station Meadow, West Yorkshire". Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ Shipley station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 29 November 2016
- ^ GB eNRT May 2023 Edition, Tables 34, 35 & 36
- ISSN 0026-8356.
- ^ GB eNRT May 2023 Edition, Table 20
Sources
- Bairstow, Martin (2004). Railways through Airedale & Wharfedale. Farsley: Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-28-7.
Bibliography
- 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 Map: Yourshire CGI: Survey of 1847). ISBN 1-903004-90-X
- Sheeran, George 1994 Railway Buildings of West Yorkshire, 1812–1920 Ryburn. ISBN 1-85331-100-6
- Smith, F. W. & 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
- Train times and station information for Shipley railway station from National Rail