44-403: The Spen Valley Line (also known as the Mirfield and Low Moor railway ) was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire , England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area (known as the Heavy Woollen District (HWD)) and allowed
88-577: A Bradford Interchange (via Halifax and Brighouse ) to London service accepted by the Office of Rail Regulation. In the December 2017 timetable, four trains call in each direction throughout the week (including Sundays). This service temporarily stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed in December 2020. In February 2019, it was revealed that Mirfield was in line for a new station as part of
132-452: A Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening. From north west to south east; The stations at Cleckheaton, Liversedge Heckmondwike and Northorpe opened in July 1848. Cleckheaton, Liversedge and Heckmondwike were later renamed in 1924 each having the suffix Central appended to their names to avoid confusion with Cleckheaton Spen, Liversedge Spen and Heckmondwike Spen stations on
176-607: A connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford . The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway , the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (on grouping ) and British Railways on Nationalisation . A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line
220-497: A hotel, buffet and billiard room; it opened on 5 March 1866. Today the station remains busy, despite the loss of the Spen Valley service to Bradford from 14 June 1965 and the links to Normanton and York on 5 January 1970 (the line via Brighouse also closed at the same time, but this reopened in 2000 for peak hour services). It has also lost its buildings to demolition (in the mid-1980s) and one of its four tracks but gained
264-701: A twelve-arch viaduct across the River Calder just east of Ravensthorpe Lower station. The west facing curve at the northern end of the line was built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway in 1893 after an agreement in 1882 with the Great Northern Railway about the sharing of running powers. The L&Y used the agreement to prevent the GNR building a line through the Spen Valley which would have duplicated their route. The 1882 agreement provided
308-608: Is equally maintained by Sustrans and Kirklees Council , who between them, have paved the route. The greenway runs for 7 miles (11 km) on the former trackbed but the length of the route between Dewsbury and Low Moor extends to 8 miles (13 km) and is estimated to carry over 200,000 non-motorised journeys per year. In 2007, the route won first prize for mobility in the European Greenway Awards . The greenway has access to Low Moor railway station at its northern end as well as alternative routes into Bradford, and at
352-473: Is now also a limited (two morning and two afternoon departures) service to York via Wakefield Kirkgate , which replaces the now defunct Northern local service to Wakefield and was introduced at the December 2023 timetable change. The station sees a number of direct services to London Kings Cross via Wakefield Kirkgate , Pontefract and Doncaster , which commenced on 23 May 2010. In January 2009, Grand Central Railway had their application for train paths to run
396-415: Is rarely used for normal scheduled services but is passed by non-stopping westbound trains to Huddersfield. Platform 3 is a side platform on the eastern side of the bridge; trains are towards Huddersfield, Halifax , Bradford Interchange and Brighouse (westbound). The train to Leeds takes around 25 minutes and to reach Huddersfield takes around 10 minutes. The town received its first railway in 1840, when
440-510: The Huddersfield Line and is managed by Northern and also receives services by Grand Central and also TransPennine Express . The station is 4 miles (6 km) north east from Huddersfield . The platforms have an unusual configuration. Platforms 1 and 2 form an island platform on the western side of the bridge over Station Road/Hopton New Road. Trains from Platform 1 go to Leeds and Wakefield Westgate (eastbound); Platform 2
484-718: The Leeds New Line . Bairstow, writing in the Manchester and Leeds Railway , states that in the case of Cleckheaton, the term central was very appropriate for the Spen Valley Line station as the one on the Leeds New Line was quite far from the town. Similarly, Northorpe and Ravensthorpe were renamed in 1924 by the LMS to avoid confusion with other stations in the same locations. In 1901, Parliamentary approval
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#1732793884163528-484: The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened the first section of its cross-Pennine main line between Normanton and Hebden Bridge (completing it through to Manchester on 1 March 1841). It did not actually get a station though until April 1845, when the company opened one shortly before submitting plans to Parliament to build a branch line from the town along the Spen Valley to Bradford via Cleckheaton . Approval
572-478: The Woodhead Line . Following the closure of Reddish depot in 1983, units had to be diesel-hauled from Longsight depot to their usual route, due to incompatibility with the available 25kV power supply. On 21 May 1970 the 22:45 Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield was on the up fast line passing Audenshaw Junction near Guide Bridge when the middle and rear cars were diverted onto the up slow line due to
616-591: The 1980s, the West Riding Transport Museum , had intended to electrify the line between Low Moor and Heckmondwike to 1,500 volt Direct Current. This was so they could run a newly acquired Class 506 EMU on the line. The course of the line is now a cycle and footpath named the Spen Valley Greenway. There have been proposals for the railway to re-open to provide a separate service from Bradford to Huddersfield or Wakefield, however,
660-812: The COVID-19 pandemic and has never been properly reinstated) Westbound - there is an hourly daytime service to Manchester Victoria and Wigan Wallgate via Brighouse and Hebden Bridge - this was introduced as part of the December 2008 timetable alterations on the Calder Valley Line . There are no Northern services on a Sunday. Since the May 2018 timetable change, TransPennine Express services now call here hourly each direction seven days per week. Eastbound trains serve local stations to Leeds, then continue as expresses to Selby and Hull whilst westbound trains call at Deighton and Huddersfield before continuing to Stalybridge and Manchester Piccadilly . There
704-677: The H&;M and LD&M by 1849) had originally planned to build its own route through Mirfield, but after negotiations with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (successors to the M&;L) agreed to not to go ahead in return for the granting of running powers over the Thornhill to Heaton Lodge section (and also allowing the L&;Y access to Huddersfield). This meant that the railway passing through
748-527: The L&Y with access to GNR lines in the Wakefield and Pudsey areas. The GNR were, in return, afforded the ability to run trains from the Doncaster and Wakefield areas to Halifax either via Brighouse or Cleckheaton. The line lost its local passenger services in July 1965 and despite Low Moor being on a line that would stay open serving trains between Halifax and Bradford, it too closed completely. In
792-459: The Low Moor area to allow trains to access the line west to Halifax . The topography of the line was fairly flat with the steepest gradient being a 1 in 100 north of Heckmondwike and the line only required two tunnels. The spur between Heckmondwike and Thornhill cut 25 minutes from the journey time between Bradford and Wakefield and also reduced the congestion at Mirfield station. The spur line had
836-402: The aforementioned third platform as part of a set of capacity improvements in the late 1980s. The station is unstaffed and has a ticket machine available on the platform. Digital display screens, timetable posters and automated announcements provide train running information. Shelters are provided on each platform, but only platform 3 has step-free access (from the station car park). Access to
880-402: The cars were normally formed so that the last two digits corresponded, i.e. 59401-59501-59601 etc., and the units were known locally as 01, 02, etc. On the few occasions that units were reformed, one car would be renumbered to correspond with the others in its new unit; thus 59406 became 59408 in December 1983 (59506, 59606 and the real 59408 being withdrawn); while 59401 (crudely renumbered 59402)
924-468: The first class seating of these units was declassified to second in early 1960. The eight 3-car sets were formed into 6-car trains at peak hours. The frequency of the Glossop/Hadfield service at peak times was every 30 minutes, and the round trip took nearly 90 minutes, requiring six of the eight units in service each weekday. With one spare unit, and one away for works overhaul at a time, there
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#1732793884163968-416: The greenway that occupies the trackbed was dug up by Yorkshire Water in two stages during 2011 when a pipeline was installed. This was preferable to crossing roads and other means of communications but has also meant that the prospect of re-opening the line to rail traffic is diminished as the cost of moving the pipeline was estimated at £15 million in 2011. This line has been identified by Campaign for
1012-630: The last run on 7 December. After their withdrawal, unit 59404-59504-59604 was set aside for preservation, but the rest were all sent to Vic Berry in Leicester for scrap; they were cut up in April 1985. One complete unit was scheduled for preservation by the West Yorkshire Transport Museum ; it was based originally at Dinting Railway Museum . It then moved to the former Bradford Hammerton Street Depot and finally on to
1056-521: The motor coach, and thus the pantograph, in the middle of the unit. Unlike the similar Class 306 , the eight Class 506 units remained solely equipped for 1,500 V DC operation for their entire lives. This made them unable to operate on any lines away from the Woodhead route when other lines changed to AC operation. They rarely operated east of Hadfield anyway, due to low gearing and the risk of overheating; however, trials were conducted in 1969 to assess
1100-400: The older island platform is via a subway with stairs up to platform level. Platform 3 is to be extended by December 2018 as part of a Network Rail plan to extend more than 100 platforms at 70 stations across the north of England. Eastbound from Mirfield, an hourly service to Leeds. Services to Wakefield and Castleford no longer run - the regular service that once ran was suspended during
1144-468: The points being changed underneath the train. The middle car turned on its side as a result and was dragged for 90 yards before coming to rest against an overbridge. Two passengers were killed and 13 injured. In 1981, the Woodhead line was closed east of Hadfield. In December 1984, the remaining section was converted to the standard 25 kV AC overhead system and the Class 506 EMUs were withdrawn following
1188-463: The possibility of use through the Woodhead Tunnel . Each power car had four 185 hp GEC traction motors , giving a total of 740 hp per 3-car set. British Railways numbers were: Being built against an LNER order, the numbers were in the former LNER series. To distinguish these from other similarly-numbered carriages, BR used letter prefixes and suffixes, but these varied. At
1232-403: The same production lines (making a total of 100 units of basically similar design), they were equipped with air-operated sliding doors. Each unit was formed of a Driving Motor Brake Third (seating 52); a Trailer Composite (seating 24 first class and 38 third class passengers); and a Driving Trailer Third (seating 60). Third class was redesignated Second across the whole of BR on 3 June 1956, while
1276-417: The south west of Bradford connecting with Halifax, Huddersfield and Mirfield. The WRUR was absorbed by the Manchester & Leeds Railway , who in turn became a constituent of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway a year later. The railway's initial section between Mirfield and Cleckheaton Central opened in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in July 1848. However, it would be two years before through running
1320-581: The southern end it connects into the Calder Valley Greenway. It is part of National Cycle Route number 66 which runs between Manchester and Hull , and has been furnished with a flock of metal Swaledale Sheep and a ring of metal hoops that the walker or biker goes under whilst navigating the route. Mirfield railway station Mirfield railway station serves the town of Mirfield in West Yorkshire , England . It lies on
1364-538: The time that they were delivered, the numbers were in fact unique; but from 1959, new Diesel multiple-units were delivered carrying similar numbers, in the BR series. The Manchester-Glossop-Hadfield EMU number prefixes and suffixes may be summarised thus: The "E" suffix seems to have been dropped a few years prior to the change to "M"; photographs exist from the 1964–1968 period showing unsuffixed numbers, including M59404, M59405 and M59408. No unit numbers were carried, however
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1408-575: The town soon became extremely congested, carrying as it did the traffic on two main trunk routes between Manchester and Leeds (the Huddersfield & Manchester company having completed its route through Stalybridge in August 1849) and it led to the station gaining a notorious reputation for delays. This persisted even after the Heaton Lodge - Thornhill section was quadrupled in 1884, and it
1452-629: The units being known as "Manchester-Glossop-Hadfield" stock. The class were officially numbered 506 under the TOPS system, however they never carried 506xxx numbers in service. The individual coach types were in the Eastern Region carriage diagram book as Dia. 363F (Driving Motor), 366 (Trailer) and 365F (Driving Trailer). Under TOPS, design codes EB2.05.0A, EH2.04.0A and EE2.04.0A respectively were allotted. The class operated local services between Manchester Piccadilly , Glossop and Hadfield on
1496-431: The £3 billion TransPennine Route Upgrade. The plans involve the reconstruction of the current platforms 1 and 2 on what will become the 'slow' lines between Heaton Lodge and Thornhill LNW junctions, along with the restoration of the fourth line to complete the 'fast' lines between those two points. The existing platform 3 would be demolished under this scheme. British Rail Class 506 The British Rail Class 506
1540-584: Was a 3 carriage electric multiple unit (EMU) built for local services between Manchester , Glossop and Hadfield on the Woodhead Line , which was electrified in 1954 on the 1,500 V DC overhead system . There were eight three-car units, ordered in 1938 by the LNER and built in 1950, but they did not enter service until June 1954. Similar in design to the Class 306 EMUs (prior to their conversion to 25 kV 50 Hz AC operation), and built on
1584-451: Was achieved from Low Moor into Bradford, so Low Moor acted as the northern terminus; delays in tunnelling under the hill at Bowling meant that the section to Bradford Exchange did not open until May 1850. The distance of the line extended to almost 7 miles (11 km) between the two points with a small 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (4 km) spur extending from Heckmondwike to Thornhill that had one intermediate station at Ravensthorpe. This
1628-520: Was built on the site of Low Moor station in 1995. It also had a small section of line that used the former trackbed of the Spen Valley Railway which the museum used to run trams up and down on. The museum failed to attract the visitor numbers that it had hoped for and closed down in 1997, just two years after opening. In 1998, Sustrans acquired the trackbed and converted it into a greenway for people on horses, foot or bicycle. The greenway
1672-526: Was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path. The railway was first proposed by the West Riding Union Railway (WRUR), who submitted a bill to parliament in 1846 to build 45 miles (72 km) of railways around
1716-549: Was formed with 59502 and 59602 about September 1984 (59501, 59601 and the real 59402 being stored out of service). There is a suggestion that the motor coaches would originally have been numbered 29401-8, but this may be a typo - the initial digit "2" would imply the North Eastern Area of the former LNER, while "5" denotes the Great Central Section. Originally, no special class code was allotted,
1760-569: Was granted for the route the following year and it was opened as far as Low Moor on 12 July 1848 and through to Bradford two years later. By this time further lines had been opened from nearby Heaton Lodge Junction to Huddersfield by the Huddersfield & Manchester Railway (opened on 3 August 1847) and from Thornhill to Leeds by the Leeds, Dewsbury & Manchester Railway (opened 18 September 1848). The LNWR (which had absorbed both
1804-558: Was granted to the Spen Valley Light Railway for the construction of nearly 19 miles (31 km) in the Spen Valley between Dewsbury , Cleckheaton, Thornhill and Heckmondwike. This was actually a tramway and a subsidiary company was formed under the name Yorkshire Woollen District (YWD) to run trams on the network. Transperience , A museum dedicated to the experience of passenger transport in West Yorkshire
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1848-547: Was no scope to use the units for other tasks. The EMUs were equipped with a single diamond-shaped pantograph , mounted over the driver's cab and adjacent guard's compartment at the outer end of the driving motor carriage. This gave a ready identification feature because, following the withdrawal of the Manchester-Altrincham units in May 1971, all other overhead-line EMUs operating in the Manchester area had
1892-508: Was not until the LNWR opened an alternative Huddersfield to Leeds route at the turn of the century that the situation began to improve. To facilitate interchange, a new station was built 202 yd (185 m) to the east of the original; the contract for the station (excluding roof) was placed on 25 May 1864, the roof contract being placed on 26 April 1865. The new station centred on a large island platform with overall roof, and facilities included
1936-458: Was part of the original WRUR bill passed in August 1846, but abandoned by the L&Y on grounds of cost. Because of the need to reverse at Mirfield to head towards the Wakefield direction, the 1846 plan for the line between Heckmondwike and Thornhill was re-submitted to parliament and approved. The line opened to traffic in June 1869. The line was double track throughout with a triangular junction in
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