Spen Valley Line

The railway was first proposed by the West Riding Union Railway (WRUR), who submitted a bill to parliament in 1846 to build 45 miles (72 km) of railways around the south west of Bradford connecting with Halifax, Huddersfield and Mirfield.[2] The WRUR was absorbed by the Manchester & Leeds Railway, who in turn became a constituent of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway a year later. The railway's initial section between Mirfield and Cleckheaton Central opened in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in July 1848.[2] However, it would be two years before through running was achieved from Low Moor into Bradford, so Low Moor acted as the northern terminus; delays in tunnelling under the hill at Bowling meant that the section to Bradford Exchange did not open until May 1850.[note 1][3]

The distance of the line extended to almost 7 miles (11 km) between the two points[4] with a small 2+1⁄2-mile (4 km) spur extending from Heckmondwike to Thornhill that had one intermediate station at Ravensthorpe.[5][6][note 2] This was part of the original WRUR bill passed in August 1846, but abandoned by the L&Y on grounds of cost. Because of the need to reverse at Mirfield to head towards the Wakefield direction, the 1846 plan for the line between Heckmondwike and Thornhill was re-submitted to parliament and approved. The line opened to traffic in June 1869.[7]

The line was double track throughout[8] with a triangular junction in the Low Moor area to allow trains to access the line west to Halifax. The topography of the line was fairly flat with the steepest gradient being a 1 in 100 north of Heckmondwike and the line only required two tunnels.[2] The spur between Heckmondwike and Thornhill cut 25 minutes from the journey time between Bradford and Wakefield and also reduced the congestion at Mirfield station. The spur line had a twelve-arch viaduct across the River Calder just east of Ravensthorpe Lower station.[5][note 3][9] The west facing curve at the northern end of the line was built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway in 1893 after an agreement in 1882 with the Great Northern Railway about the sharing of running powers. The L&Y used the agreement to prevent the GNR building a line through the Spen Valley which would have duplicated their route. The 1882 agreement provided the L&Y with access to GNR lines in the Wakefield and Pudsey areas. The GNR were, in return, afforded the ability to run trains from the Doncaster and Wakefield areas to Halifax either via Brighouse or Cleckheaton.[10]

The line lost its local passenger services in July 1965 and despite Low Moor being on a line that would stay open serving trains between Halifax and Bradford, it too closed completely.[note 4][11][12] In the 1980s, the West Riding Transport Museum, had intended to electrify the line between Low Moor and Heckmondwike to 1,500 volt Direct Current. This was so they could run a newly acquired Class 506 EMU on the line.[13] The course of the line is now a cycle and footpath named the Spen Valley Greenway. There have been proposals for the railway to re-open to provide a separate service from Bradford to Huddersfield or Wakefield,[14][15] however, the greenway that occupies the trackbed was dug up by Yorkshire Water in two stages during 2011 when a pipeline was installed.[16] This was preferable to crossing roads and other means of communications but has also meant that the prospect of re-opening the line to rail traffic is diminished as the cost of moving the pipeline was estimated at £15 million in 2011.[17]

This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.[18]

In 1901, Parliamentary approval was granted to the Spen Valley Light Railway for the construction of nearly 19 miles (31 km) in the Spen Valley between Dewsbury, Cleckheaton, Thornhill and Heckmondwike.[22][23][24] This was actually a tramway and a subsidiary company was formed under the name Yorkshire Woollen District (YWD) to run trams on the network.[25]

Transperience, A museum dedicated to the experience of passenger transport in West Yorkshire was built on the site of Low Moor station in 1995. It also had a small section of line that used the former trackbed of the Spen Valley Railway which the museum used to run trams up and down on. The museum failed to attract the visitor numbers that it had hoped for and closed down in 1997, just two years after opening.[26][27]

The Spen Valley Greenway passing through Heckmondwike

In 1998, Sustrans acquired the trackbed and converted it into a greenway for people on horses, foot or on pushbike.[28] The greenway is equally maintained by Sustrans and Kirklees Council, who between them, have tarmacked the route.[29] The greenway runs for 7 miles (11 km) on the former trackbed but the length of the route between Dewsbury and Low Moor extends to 8 miles (13 km) and is estimated to carry over 200,000 non-motorised journeys per year.[30][31] In 2007, the route won first prize for mobility in the European Greenway Awards.[32] The greenway has access to Low Moor railway station at its northern end as well as alternative routes into Bradford,[33] and at the southern end it connects into the Calder Valley Greenway.[34] It is part of National Cycle Route number 66 which runs between Manchester and Hull,[35] and has been furnished with a flock of metal Swaledale Sheep and a ring of metal hoops that the walker or biker goes under whilst navigating the route.[36][37][38]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spen Valley Greenway.

• Spen Valley Greenway map — Sustrans