Headingley railway station (formerly known as Headingley and Kirkstall railway station until some point early in the 20th century) is off Kirkstall Lane in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England, on the
Harrogate Line, north west of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
. The station was opened in 1849 by the Leeds & Thirsk Railway, later part of the Leeds Northern Railway to Northallerton.
History
The station opened in 1849, one year after the opening of the route which now forms the Harrogate Line in 1849 by two of the railways which came to be part of the
North Eastern Railway: the ''
Leeds Northern Railway
The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), originally the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from Leeds to Stockton via Harrogate and Thirsk. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for ...
'' and the ''
East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a railway company established in 1846 between the Leeds and Thirsk Railway at Knaresborough and the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway near York, England. The company merged into the York and No ...
''. In the early twentieth century houses were built for railway workers by the station on Kirkstall Lane; although now in private ownership these are still existent and marked by plaques.
Facilities
The station is not staffed, though ticket vending machines are available on each platform. Passenger information screens were also installed in 2015. There is step free access via the carpark to platform 2 (Harrogate bound), whilst access to platform 1 (Leeds Bound) is available by lifts installed in spring 2019.
The old station building and platform it stands on is no longer in railway use (the building is privately owned) - a replacement platform has been built a few yards further up the line towards Horsforth, giving the station a staggered platform configuration.
Location and areas served
The station is halfway between
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...
centre and
Kirkstall
Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds West parliamentary constituency, represented by Rachel Reeves. Th ...
, just down the road from the
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, comprising two separate grounds; Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium, linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities. The grounds a ...
's
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
grounds. It is over half a mile from the centre of Headingley itself, but close to local bus routes on Kirkstall Hill, Kirkstall Road and Kirkstall Lane. It is also close to local shops and services in Kirkstall, including Kirkstall Leisure Centre. The station also serves the
West Park and Queenswood Drive areas, which it is linked to by a pedestrian footpath through the Headingley Station allotments. The predominantly student occupied houses between Kirkstall Lane and St. Ann's Drive are also within a short walk. It is the closest railway station to
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
's Beckett Park campus.
Services
Monday to Saturday daytimes, is generally a half-hourly service southbound to
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and a half-hourly service northbound to
Knaresborough
Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate.
History
Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...
with one train per hour onwards to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. In peak hours, there are extra services to and from Leeds.
In the evening there is an hourly service in each direction (with the last two northbound departures terminating at Harrogate), whilst on Sundays there are two departures per hour to Leeds & Knaresborough and one per hour through to York (the half-hourly service frequency beyond Horsforth was introduced at the December 2017 timetable change).
Services are mostly operated by
Class 170 as well as
150 150 may refer to:
*150 (number), a natural number
*AD 150, a year in the 2nd century AD
*150 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
*150 Regiment RLC
*Combined Task Force 150
See also
* List of highways numbered 150
The following highways are numbered ...
,
155 and
158 diesel multiple units
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
.
Daily return expresses between
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
and London operated by
London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...
pass through the station but do not stop.
Buses operate close by on Kirkstall Lane.
Former services
Prior to the closure of the routes, services ran through the station on the
Leeds-Northallerton railway. Services also ran to
Otley
Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...
via the
Arthington to Menston Line and some services were also run to
Wetherby
Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...
by way of the
Harrogate-Church Fenton line with return to Leeds via the junction at Wetherby with the
Cross Gates–Wetherby line.
Parking
The station has a small car park which is free to use for rail users, although no form of proof of travel or ticket is required.
Future
Rolling stock
In 2014 the replacement of the
Pacers that were developed from the
Leyland National
The Leyland National is an integrally-constructed United Kingdom, British high-floor, step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industri ...
buses in the 1980s was raised with Chancellor
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
; both the 142s and 144s that serve this line are both Pacers. New Northern franchise operator
Arriva Rail North
Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operato ...
has since agreed to withdraw the Pacers by 2019 and replace them with either cascaded stock or new DMUs. A contract for new diesel & electric units was agreed with Spanish train builder CAF and rolling stock leasing company Eversholt in January 2016.
Electrification
In July 2011, the Harrogate Chamber of Commerce proposed to electrify the line with 750 V DC third rail, using
D Stock of the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
, to substantially increase capacity.
This idea has not been backed by Metro, Northern Rail or National Rail and seems unlikely to garner support given the age of the D stock, the need to adapt the D stock to third rail as it runs with a fourth and the preference for overhead electrification.
See also
*
Leeds-Northallerton Railway
*
Listed buildings in Leeds (Kirkstall Ward)
Kirkstall is a ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 48 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest ...
References
* Bacon G.W (Circa 1900) Plan of Leeds, Kelly's Directories Ltd, London
External links
{{West Yorkshire railway stations
Railway stations in Leeds
DfT Category F1 stations
Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849
Northern franchise railway stations
Headingley
1849 establishments in England