Leeds train station
The Leeds railway station (also called Leeds City known) is the main station of the British city of Leeds . Trains from Northern Rail , CrossCountry , First TransPennine Express , East Coast Trains and East Midlands Trains run to London, Southampton , Birmingham , Bristol , Newcastle upon Tyne , Edinburgh , Manchester and Liverpool, among others . Northern Rail is responsible for traffic on the numerous suburban lines of the MetroTrain network. In the 2004/05 operating year, 14,733,000 passengers used the station.
building
The station is located south of the city center near the Aire River . It consists of two parts, a through station and a terminal station on the north side. Both rest on a mighty Victorian brick viaduct, known by townspeople as The Dark Arches . There are numerous shops, restaurants and art galleries in the arches of the viaduct. Other shops and fast food chains are located in the station building itself. Neville Street runs under the station. The western part of the station area spans the Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal .
With 17 tracks, Leeds is the second largest train station in England outside the capital London . In addition, it is one of 17 UK train stations that are not managed by a railway company, but by the infrastructure company Network Rail .
history
Former train stations
The railroad reached Leeds in 1834 when the Leeds and Selby Railway (which later became the North Eastern Railway ) opened its main line. Their station was east of the city center on Marsh Lane. In 1840 the North Midland Railway (later part of the Midland Railway ) built a line from Derby via Rotherham to Leeds. Their station was initially in the south on Hunslet Lane, but was then moved to the more centrally located Wellington Street in 1846.
In 1854 the Manchester and Leeds Railway (later part of the London and North Western Railway , LNWR) opened Leeds Central Station , also on Wellington Street. This station later belonged jointly to the LNWR and the North Eastern Railway. But other companies also had the right to run trains there, including the Great Northern Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway .
The LNWR and North Eastern Railway opened a new station called New Station in 1869 , connecting the Leeds − Selby line in the east with the LNWR lines in the west. For this purpose, a 1.6 km long connecting route was built, which ran entirely on viaducts and bridges. New Station itself was built partly on a bridge over the Aire and adjoined the train station on Wellington Street. With the entry into force of the Railway Union Act of 1921, the British railway companies merged into four companies. New Station remained in the possession of two companies, in this case the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
Conversions
The first rationalization came in 1938 when New Station and Wellington Street stations were combined to form the new Leeds station. Leeds Central train station was not affected by this measure. Part of Wellington Street Station has been converted into a package warehouse. In addition, the northern concourse (North Concourse) and the Queens Hotel were built.
Another renovation followed in 1967 when all trains that had previously run to Leeds Central were diverted to Leeds station. The station, which was no longer needed, was closed and later demolished. The over 100-year-old bridges over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal had to be replaced, a second concourse was also built and a new roof spanned the entire facility.
In the 1990s, Leeds station reached its capacity limits. From 1999 to 2002 it was completely rebuilt. New crossing-free access tracks were built on the west side, the number of tracks in the station hall was increased from 12 to 17. In addition, all rails, switches and signals were replaced. The biggest visible change was the replacement of the metal hall roof from 1967 with a glass construction. A new pedestrian bridge replaced the previous underpass. Further improvements were a new multi-storey car park, the renovation of the northern station concourse and expanded shopping facilities. During the renovation, some trains stopped west of the facility at a temporary station called Leeds Whitehall ; this has since been torn down.
Web links
| Previous station | National Rail | Next train station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield Westgate |
GNER East Coast Main Line |
Shipley or Horsforth |
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|
Midland Mainline Midland Main Line |
final destination | |||
|
Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route |
York | |||
| Dewsbury | TransPennine Express | Garforth | ||
| Outwood |
Northern Rail Wakefield Line |
final destination | ||
| Woodlesford |
Northern Rail Hallam Line Pontefract Line |
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| Cottingley |
Northern Rail Huddersfield Line |
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| Bramley |
Northern Rail Caldervale Line |
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| final destination |
Northern Rail Leeds-Bradford Line Airedale Line |
Shipley | ||
|
Northern Rail Wharfedale Line |
Guiseley | |||
|
Northern Rail York & Selby Lines |
Cross gates | |||
|
Northern Rail Harrogate Line |
Burley Park | |||
Coordinates: 53 ° 47 ′ 38.4 " N , 1 ° 32 ′ 49.2" W.