Huddersfield Line

Huddersfield Line
Legend
Cross Country Route to York / North TransPennine to Hull Leeds Hallam Line / Pontefract Line Leeds Central Harrogate Line to Harrogate / Airedale Line / Wharfedale Line Caldervale Line Cross Country Route/ East Coast Main Line Farnley and Wortley Leeds New Line Cottingley Churwell Morley Morley Tunnel Batley Staincliffe & Batley Carr Dewsbury to Bradford Exchange Ravensthorpe to Wakefield to Bradford Mirfield Leeds New Line Caldervale Line Bradley Kirkburton Branch Deighton Newtown Goods Yard Huddersfield Penistone Line Longwood and Milnsbridge Golcar Slaithwaite Marsden Standedge Tunnels Diggle Micklehurst Line Saddleworth Delph Donkey Moorgate Greenfield Delph Donkey to Oldham Mossley Scout Tunnel Micklehurst Line Stalybridge Glossop Line / Hope Valley Line Ashton under Lyne Guide Bridge* to Oldham to Stockport Fairfield* Fallowfield Loop Line Droylsden Gorton* Clayton Bridge Hope Valley Line Park Ashburys* Caldervale Line Miles Platting Ardwick* West Coast Main Line / Styal Line Manchester Victoria Manchester Piccadilly Ordsall Chord Liverpool to Manchester lines Liverpool Lime Street
* Not served by Huddersfield Line services

The Huddersfield Line is the name given to one of the busiest rail services on the West Yorkshire MetroTrain network in Northern England. Local services are operated by Northern with longer distance services operated by TransPennine Express. The line connects Leeds and Huddersfield with Manchester (Victoria & Piccadilly), Manchester Airport and Liverpool.

The route travels SSW from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short westward stretch through Mirfield (where it runs on the ex-L&YR section), it continues SW through Huddersfield, using the River Colne valley to its headwaters. The long Standedge Tunnel just after Marsden crosses under the watershed and the majority of the run down to Manchester is in the Tame valley. After Manchester, the line reaches the Liverpool and Manchester Railway line over Chat Moss to Liverpool.

The Government announced in November 2011 that this route would be electrified,^[1] and electrification is currently scheduled to be completed by 2022.^[2]

History

At the time of the 1923 Grouping most of the route followed by the line was over London and North Western Railway (LNWR) metals, the exception being a short stretch around Mirfield which was the property of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The first section of the line, between Huddersfield and Stalybridge, was opened by the Manchester, Stockport and Leeds Railway on 1 August 1849. The line became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway after 1923.

Route details

Metro (West Yorkshire) pre-paid tickets and concessionary fares are available between Leeds and Marsden. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) fares are available for the Greenfield-Manchester section. Several of the intermediate stations listed were closed in the 1960s (as a result of the Beeching Axe, including many of those between Huddersfield & Manchester). All stations that are still open are in bold:

Leeds-Huddersfield

• Leeds
• Copley Hill
• Farnley and Wortley
• Cottingley (Leeds)
• Churwell
• Morley
• Batley
• Staincliffe & Batley Carr
• Dewsbury: previously Dewsbury (Wellington Road)
• Ravensthorpe was named Ravensthorpe and Thornhill
  • here is Dewsbury Junction with the L&YR. Trains from Wakefield (Westgate and Kirkgate railway stations) join the Huddersfield Line here, giving connections from the Pontefract, Hallam and Wakefield Lines.
• Mirfield L&YR junctions here to Low Moor (closed) and Halifax (the Caldervale Line): the service from the Huddersfield Line operates to Brighouse
• Heaton Lodge/Heckmondwike Junctions return the route to the ex-LNWR line
• Bradley
• Deighton
• Huddersfield : served by the Caldervale and Penistone Line lines. The railway station here was LNWR/L&YR joint owned.

Huddersfield-Manchester

• here is Springwood Tunnel and Springwood Junction for the trains on the Penistone Line
• Longwood and Milnsbridge
• Golcar
• Slaithwaite
• Marsden
• here is Standedge Tunnel : three parallel tunnels, two single-line, one double 5340 yd (4806 m) in length
• Diggle
• Diggle Junction with line to Stalybridge via Friezland
• Saddleworth
• Moorgate
• Greenfield
• Mossley
• Stalybridge
• Ashton-under-Lyne
• Manchester Victoria

Westbound coal train between Ravensthorpe and Mirfield in 1953

Manchester to Liverpool

• Manchester Piccadilly
  • Manchester Airport
• Irlam (peak only)
• Manchester Oxford Road
• Birchwood
• Warrington Central
• Hunts Cross (peak only)
• Liverpool Lime Street

Ale trail

Owing to a large number of easily accessed and nationally acclaimed pubs along the route (including pubs on the station platforms at Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Stalybridge), an "ale trail" along the route has become popular. Of particular interest are:

• West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms (on the platform at Dewsbury Station, 2006 runner up CAMRA National Pub of the Year)
• The Kings Head, formerly known as The Station Tavern, in the east wing of Huddersfield station
• The Head of Steam in the west wing of Huddersfield Station
• The Commercial, The Shoulder of Mutton and The Swan in Slaithwaite
• Riverhead, Marsden (with the Riverhead Brewery in the basement, in the town a little down from the station and tunnels)
• Station Buffet at Stalybridge (original Victorian Station Buffet with marble counter, on the platform at Stalybridge station)

The Trail featured on the BBC Oz and James Drink to Britain programme and consequently became very popular for drinkers in Manchester and Leeds. This has prompted some concerns over anti-social behaviour in the villages along the Trail.^[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huddersfield Line.

Railway lines in the North West
Primary to London	West Coast Main Line
Other	Inter-regional Buxton line Calder Valley line Chester–Manchester line Crewe–Derby line Glossop line Hope Valley line Huddersfield line Leeds–Morecambe line Mid-Cheshire line Morecambe branch line Ribble Valley line Stafford–Manchester line Tyne Valley line Intra-regional Blackpool branch lines Borderlands Line Crewe–Manchester line Cumbrian Coast line East Lancashire line Ellesmere Port–Warrington line Furness line Kirkby branch line Liverpool–Manchester lines Liverpool–Wigan line Manchester–Preston line Manchester–Southport line Northern Line (Merseyrail) Ormskirk branch line Settle–Carlisle line Stockport–Stalybridge line Styal line Windermere branch line Wirral line
Heritage	East Lancashire Railway Eden Valley Railway Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway Ribble Steam Railway

Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
Primary	To London East Coast Main Line Midland Main Line To Exeter Cross Country Route
Others	Inter-regional Hallam Line Hope Valley Line Leeds to Morecambe Line Doncaster to Lincoln Line Sheffield to Lincoln Line Settle–Carlisle Line Intra-regional Airedale Line Askern Branch Line Barton Line Calder Valley Line Dearne Valley Line Esk Valley Line Harrogate Line Huddersfield Line Leeds-Bradford Lines Leeds-Northallerton Railway Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line Penistone Line Pontefract Line Selby Diversion Selby Line South Humberside Main Line Swinton to Doncaster Wakefield Line Wharfedale Line Hull to Scarborough York to Scarborough
Defunct	Barnsley-Doncaster Brockholes-Holmfirth Dearne Valley Railway Gilling and Pickering Harrogate-Church Fenton Hull-Barnsley (Cudworth) Hull and Holderness Hull and Hornsea Knaresborough-York Leeds-Harrogate Malton-Driffield Market Weighton-Driffield Middlesbrough-Guisborough Middlesbrough-Guisborough-Normanby Huddersfield-Bradford Lockwood-Meltham Nunthorpe–Battersby Otley-Ilkley Pilmoor-Knaresborough Queensbury lines Rosedale Railway Scarborough-Whitby Seamer-Pickering Selby-Driffield Selby-Goole Shipley Windhill Line Sowerby Bridge-Rishworth Skipton-Grassington Skipton-Ilkley Thirsk and Malton Line Wetherby-Cross Gates(Leeds) Whiby-Loftus Woodhead Line York-Market Weighton-Beverley York-York (Foss Island)
Heritage	Derwent Valley Light Railway Elsecar Heritage Railway Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Middleton Railway North Bay Railway North Yorkshire Moors Railway Wensleydale Railway
Light Railways	Nidd Valley Light Railway North Holderness Light Railway Sand Hutton Light Railway