Steeton and Silsden railway station serves the village of Steeton and the town of

Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,268 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the haml ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated closer to Steeton than to Silsden, and is on the Airedale Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern.

History

Steeton & Silsden was opened by the

Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was an early British railway company in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It built a line from near Bradford through and to . The Skipton–Colne Line closed in 1970, but the remainder of the line is ...

in December 1847, and was later re-sited in march 1892. The station was closed on 20 March 1965 (a victim of the Beeching Axe) but reopened in 1990. The current (staggered) station platforms built by British Rail are located on the site of the old A6068

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

, which was replaced by the current road bridge in 1988 as part of the Aire Valley Trunk Road project. Until its closure, both platforms were situated to the north of the former crossing, although the original station building (which survives as a private residence) was located on the Keighley side (south of the current northbound platform). Because the station is the first station within the

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...

subsidised ticketing region on the line into Leeds and Bradford from Skipton, there are perceived to be problems with car parking at the station, as people from outside the region drive in from

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

to take advantage of the subsidised ticketing. An extension to the Metro area, to include Skipton, was hoped to alleviate that when it took effect on 17 May 2009. However, the crowded car park problem still exists, so the West Yorkshire Combined Authority had plans to build a new multi-storey car park with 247 spaces by the end of 2020, costing £3.89 million. The project was delayed and construction is expected to start in April 2022, which will cost £4.63 million and deliver 245 car parking spaces. Until recently, the station lacked full access for disabled users, which led some to catch trains in the opposite direction to change platforms. Access is now possible via a fairly steep ramp to the Leeds & Bradford-bound platform. Though the station is normally unstaffed, there are ticket machines available at the station for passengers to use. The station has digital information screens and a long-line PA system.

Services

During Monday to Saturday in the daytime and evenings there is a half-hourly service to Leeds, an hourly service to Bradford Forster Square and three trains per hour to Skipton. On Sundays, there is an hourly service to both Leeds and Bradford Forster Square, with two trains per hour to Skipton. The services are mostly operated by Northern Class 333

electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

, but Class 331 sets are used on some weekday workings. Most regional services to destinations beyond Skipton (to and ) do not stop here - connections are available at Skipton. A limited number do stop though - two early a.m. services to Carlisle and Carnforth respectively and one afternoon Morecambe train call on weekdays and Saturdays (as do one from Lancaster and one from Ribblehead in the opposite direction), whilst on Sundays the first morning trains to each destination do so. Services are provided by a variety of

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 ...

(of classes Class 150 and Class 158).

References

External links

{{Railway stations in the City of Bradford Railway stations in Bradford DfT Category F1 stations Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1990 Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Northern franchise railway stations Beeching closures in England