Huddersfield Line

The Huddersfield Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England: it is one of the busiest on the Metro network. Local services are operated by Northern Rail. The Line connects Leeds, Wakefield Westgate and Huddersfield with Manchester (Victoria), Manchester Airport and Liverpool. TransPennine Express services operate over the route.

1 The route

The route

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 near Deighton, 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 1948.

General notes

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 SE through Huddersfield, using the River Colne valley to its headwaters; the long tunnel at 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.

Route details

Leeds-Huddersfield

This is the section over which West Yorkshire MetroCards are available; many of the places served no longer have rail facilities:

Leeds City station
Copley Hill
Cottingley (Leeds) (?new station)
[[Farnley & Wortley
Churwell
Morley
Batley
Staincliffe & Batley Carr
Dewsbury: was named 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
Hooton Lodge/Heckmondwike Junctions return the route to the ex-LNWR line
Bradley
Deighton
Huddersfield: served by the Caldervale and Penistone Line lines. The 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 yds (4806m) in length
Diggle
Diggle Junction with lines to Oldham and Stalybridge via Friezland
Saddleworth
Greenfield
Mossley
Stalybridge
Ashton-under-Lyne
Manchester Victoria

Manchester to Liverpool

Manchester Piccadilly
- Manchester Airport
Manchester Oxford Road
Liverpool Lime Street

Railway lines in Great Britain:
<p style="font-size: 90%">High-speed main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Channel Tunnel Rail Link – Channel Tunnel
<p style="font-size: 90%">'Classic' main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Cross-Country – East Coast – Great Eastern – Great Western – Midland – West Coast
<p style="font-size: 90%">Other main lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Brighton – Chiltern – Chatham – Hastings – Highland – Kent Coast – London, Tilbury and Southend – North Wales – Portsmouth Direct – Settle-Carlisle – South Wales – South Western – Welsh Marches – Wessex – West Anglia – West of England
<p style="font-size: 90%">Secondary routes:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Airedale – Arun Valley – Ayrshire Coast – Caldervale – Cambridge-Norwich – Cotswold – Dearne Valley – East Coastway – Golden Valley – Glasgow South Western – Hallam – Harrogate – Harwich – Hope Valley – Huddersfield – Lea Valley – Leeds-Bradford – Medway Valley – North Downs – Pontefract – Robin Hood – Riviera – Wakefield – West Coastway – West Highland – York & Selby
<p style="font-size: 90%">Commuter lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Alton – Argyle – Bexleyheath – Birmingham Cross-City – Braintree – Caterham – Catford Loop – Chase – Dartford Loop – Gospel Oak-Barking – Hayes – Inverclyde – Ivanhoe – Maesteg – Mid-Kent – Morecambe – North Clyde – North Kent – North London – Northern City – Oxted – Romford-Upminster – Severn Beach – Sheerness – South London – St Albans Abbey – Sutton & Mole Valley – Tattenham Corner – Walsall – West London – Wharfedale – Whifflet
<p style="font-size: 90%">Rural lines:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Atlantic Coast – Avocet – Bittern – Buxton – Cambrian – Crouch Valley – Cumbrian Coast – Conwy Valley – Derwent Valley – Durham Coast – East Suffolk – Esk Valley – Far North – Felixstowe – Fen Line – Furness – Heart of Wales – Heart of Wessex – Island Line – Kyle of Lochalsh – Looe Valley – Lymington – Maritime – Marshlink – Marston Vale – Penistone – Ribble Valley – St Ives – Sudbury – Tamar Valley – Tarka – Tees Valley – Tyne Valley – Wherry – Windermere – Yorkshire Coast
<p style="font-size: 90%">Closed major routes:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Great Central – Honeybourne – Somerset & Dorset – Waverley – Woodhead

Categories: British railway lines | Transport in West Yorkshire