Kirkstall Forge railway station

Kirkstall Forge National Rail

Nearing completion in May 2016
Location
Place Kirkstall
Local authority City of Leeds
Coordinates 53°49′34″N 1°37′12″W / 53.826°N 1.620°W / 53.826; -1.620Coordinates: 53°49′34″N 1°37′12″W / 53.826°N 1.620°W / 53.826; -1.620
Grid reference SE249364
Operations
Station code KLF
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone 2
History
Original company Network Rail
19 June 2016 (2016-06-19) Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
UK Railways portal

Kirkstall Forge railway station is on the Leeds to Bradford Line between Leeds and Shipley in West Yorkshire, England. The railway station opened on Sunday 19 June 2016.[1] It is near the site of a closed station with the same name.

History

The original station opened on 1 July 1860 and closed on 31 July 1905. It was not considered worthwhile rebuilding it when the line was diverted onto a new bridge over the canal. A new station could provide opportunities for travel when Kirkstall Forge closed.[2]

The new station, near the site of the original, opened on 19 June 2016. Metro, the Passenger Transport Executive for West Yorkshire, opened the station having already overseen the opening of nearby Apperley Bridge in December 2015.

Go-ahead for construction at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge was given in the National Infrastructure Plan released on 29 November 2011.[3][4]

Facilities

The stations footbridge
The new footpath providing access from the West.

The station has two platforms, with a footbridge and lifts linking them.[5] A bus stop, 127 car parking spaces and secure cycle storage were also constructed along with the station.[6] Ticket vending machines are available and there are digital information screens and a P.A system provided for train running information provision.

Services

Though it is sited on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines, the station was to be served by trains between Leeds and Bradford Forster Square providing two trains per hour in each direction.[6] The May 2016 timetable, published by Network Rail and Metro, shows the station as being served by one train per hour between Leeds and Ilkley, with a limited number of additional calls (peak hour & late night) provided by Airedale Line services to/from Skipton & Bradford.[7] On Sundays Leeds to Bradford Forster Square trains call once per hour each way.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Northern
Wharfedale Line
Northern
Airedale Line
Northern
Leeds-Bradford Line
Historical railways
Newlay & Horsforth   Midland Railway
Leeds and Bradford Railway		   Kirkstall

Planning and construction

The derelict site of Kirkstall Forge seen in December 2014.

In 1999, Metro announced that Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge were among five new or reopened stations which they wished to see achieved over the ensuing five years. Glasshoughton opened in 2005.

In July 2007, Leeds City Council approved a planning application to redevelop the Kirkstall Forge site, and the developer, Commercial Estates Group, committed £4 million to build a railway station and provide new rolling stock.

In September 2008, the West Yorkshire PTE announced that the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Transport Board had approved funding for its "rail growth programme" which included stations at Apperley Bridge and Kirkstall Forge. A public exhibition of the plans took place in June 2009;[8] the planning application was submitted to Leeds City Council in March 2010[6] and approved in June 2010.[9]

Despite significant private sector funding, the larger Rail Growth Programme including Apperley Bridge was listed as a schemes under government review in June 2010.[10]

Following the Comprehensive Spending Review in Autumn 2010 the Leeds Rail Growth Package was included in the "Development" pool of schemes. Metro submitted a "Best & Final Funding Bid" in September 2011 and funding was confirmed November 2011 as part of the National Infrastructure Plan.[3][4]

On 29 May 2014 the Department for Transport committed £9.5 million from a total of £16 million towards the Leeds Rail Growth scheme which included both Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge stations. Works began in November 2014 by designers Amey Plc and the principal contractor C Spencers Ltd on behalf of Network Rail with completion of both stations expected by winter 2015.[11] Partly due to flooding, work for the wider non-rail Kirkstall site ran behind schedule[12] and its opening was delayed until June 2016.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Leeds Kirkstall Forge railway station opens". BBC News. BBC. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Binns, Donald (1984). Steam in Airedale. Skipton: Wyvern. pp. 11–12. ISBN 0907941117.
  3. 1 2 National Infrastructure Plan 2011 HM Treasury
  4. 1 2
  5. ↑ Kirkstall Forge station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 29 November 2016
  6. 1 2 3 "Planning permission sought for new station at Kirkstall Forge" (Press release). Network Rail. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  7. ↑ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Tables 36, 37 & 38
  8. ↑ "Kirkstall Forge Rail Station". Metro. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  9. ↑ "Kirkstall Forge agreed". Rail (647). 30 June 2010. p. 16.
  10. ↑ Broadbent, Steve (30 June 2010). "Twenty rail funding schemes now 'under Government review'". Rail (647). pp. 14–15.
  11. ↑ "Kirkstall Forge site greenlit as government agrees to fund two new rail stations". Yorkshire Evening Post. 28 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "April opening for Kirkstall Forge". Rail Magazine. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "First trains due at Kirkstall Forge on Sunday". West Leeds Dispatch. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
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