Leeds City railway station
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Leeds City station (frequently just called Leeds station) is the mainline railway station serving the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds City Station is the UK's 6th busiest station outside London [link]: about 1000 trains and over 100,000 people pass through the station daily. The station provides connections to London, Southampton and the south, Birmingham and the Midlands, Bristol and the West Country, Newcastle, Edinburgh and the north, and Manchester and Liverpool and the west, as well as to local and regional destinations. It is also the terminus for trains running on the scenic Settle to Carlisle line. It is located to the south of City Square, at the bottom of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel.The station is one of 17 in Great Britain to be managed by Network Rail.
Description
The station is situated on a hill falling from the south of the city down to the River Aire and the Leeds canal basin; much of it is supported on a huge number of Victorian brick vaulted arches. These are known to the people of Leeds as The Dark Arches. Situated just off Neville Street under the Dark Arches is Granary Wharf which is a shopping centre consisting of cafes, restaraunts,shops and exhibition spaces nestling in the arches directly underneath the train station.
The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in the UK outside London. There are both through platforms and terminus platforms. Retail facilities within the station include Wetherspoons, Burger King, McDonalds, two branches of WH Smith, Boots, Upper Crust and a Marks & Spencer simply food store.
Leeds City station is of note in that it retained manned ticket barriers during the 1990s. During this time barriers were removed from almost every British Rail station; automatic barriers have now returned to many stations, particularly in London and the South-East.
History
Past railway stations
The railways first came to Leeds in 1834, when the Leeds and Selby Railway (which became part of the North Eastern Railway) opened its line. This had a terminus at Marsh Lane, to the east of the city centre. In 1840, the North Midland Railway (one of the original constituents of the Midland Railway) constructed its line from Derby via Rotherham to a terminus at Hunslet Lane, to the south. This was extended to a more centrally-located terminus at Wellington Street in 1846, known as Wellington Station.
A road passes under the station
A river runs under the station
Another station, Central Station (also situated on Wellington Street), was opened in 1854 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway (subsequently part of the London and North Western Railway, or LNWR). This station was eventually owned jointly by the LNWR and the North Eastern Railway, but other companies also had powers to run trains there, including the Great Northern Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
In 1869 a station called New Station opened as a joint enterprise by the LNWR and the North Eastern Railway. This connected the former Leeds and Selby Railway line to the east with the LNWR lines to the west. A mile-long connection was built, carried entirely on viaducts and bridges. New Station itself was built partially on a bridge over the River Aire. It was situated adjacent to Wellington station.
[This map] shows the variety of different railway lines in Leeds in 1913. Following the 1921 Railways Act, when railways in Great Britain were grouped into four companies, New Station remained jointly-operated, but now by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
1938 rebuilding
The first rationalisation occurred in 1938, when two stations (New and Wellington) were combined to form the current Leeds City Station. The third station, Central, was unaffected by the change. Part of Wellington station became a parcels depot. This project also saw the construction of the North Concourse and the Queens Hotel.1967 rebuilding
In 1967 a further remodelling of the site took place, when all traffic using Central station was diverted into the City station with it becoming the single main railway station serving the city. Central station was closed and has since been demolished. A huge amount of engineering work was involved, including the replacement of 100-year-old bridges over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the construction of a new concourse and an overall roof. At the time of this rebuilding, the station was served by 500 trains on a typical day, with 2.75 million passenger journeys a year.2002 rebuilding
By the 1990s, the station's capacity was exceeded on a daily basis, and the 1967 design was deemed inadequate. Between 1999 and 2002, a major rebuilding project took place, branded as Leeds 1st. This project saw the construction of additional approach tracks at the western end of the station, improving efficiency by separating trains travelling to or from different destinations and preventing them from having to cross each other's routes. The station was expanded from 12 to 17 platforms, with the construction of new platforms on the south side, and reopening of the now-disused parcels depot to passengers on the north side. The majority of the track, points and signals were also replaced. The most visible change to passengers, however, was the replacement of the 1967 metal canopy with a new glass roof, considerably increasing the amount of daylight on the platforms. A new footbridge was also provided, replacing the previous underpass. Ancillary improvements include a new multi-storey car park and station entrance, refurbishing the North Concourse and expanding retail facilities.Services
The station is served by a number of train operators, including GNER, Virgin Trains, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail and Midland Mainline. It is also the hub of the MetroTrain network in West Yorkshire, being the terminus of the following lines:
- Airedale Line
- Caldervale Line
- Hallam Line
- Harrogate Line
- Huddersfield Line
- Penistone Line
- Pontefract Line
- Wakefield Line
- Wharfedale Line
- York & Selby Lines
External links
- [Station information] on from Network Rail
- [Train times] and [station information] for from National Rail
- [Street map] and [aerial photo] of from Multimap.com
- Grid reference
| Railway stations in West Yorkshire | |
|---|---|
| Baildon - Batley - Ben Rhydding - Berry Brow - Bingley - Bradford Forster Square - Bradford Interchange - Bramley - Brockholes - Brighouse - Burley Park - Burley-in-Wharfedale - Castleford - Cottingley - Crossflatts - Cross Gates - Darton - Deighton - Denby Dale - Dewsbury - East Garforth - Featherstone - Fitzwilliam - Frizinghall - Garforth - Glasshoughton - Guiseley - Halifax - Headingley - Hebden Bridge - Honley - Horsforth - Huddesfield - Ilkley - Keighley - Knottingley - Leeds - Lockwood - Marsden - Menston - Micklefield - Mirfield - Moorthorpe - Morley - Mytholmroyd - New Pudsey - Normanton - Outwood - Pontefract Baghill - Pontefract Monkhill - Pontefract Tanshelf - Ravensthorpe - Saltaire - Sandal and Agbrigg - Shepley - Shipley - Slaithwaite - South Elmsall - Sowerby Bridge - Steeton and Silsden - Stocksmoor - Streethouse - Todmorden - Wakefield Kirkgate - Wakefield Westgate - Walsden - Woodlesford | |
| - Metro | |
| Major UK railway stations | |
|---|---|
|
Aberdeen |
Belfast Central |
Birmingham New Street |
Brighton |
Bristol Temple Meads |
Cardiff Central |
Crewe |
Derby Edinburgh Waverley | Gatwick Airport | Glasgow Central | Glasgow Queen Street | Leeds City | Liverpool Lime Street Manchester Piccadilly | Manchester Victoria | Newcastle Central | Nottingham | Reading | Sheffield | York | |
| Railway stations of London Central area | Greater London |
|---|
| Blackfriars station>Blackfriars | Cannon Street | Charing Cross | City Thameslink | Clapham Junction | Euston Fenchurch Street | King's Cross | King's Cross Thameslink | Liverpool Street | London Bridge Marylebone | Moorgate | Paddington | St. Pancras | Victoria | Waterloo |
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