Leeds and Bradford Railway

The Leeds and Bradford Railway (L&BR) was formed in 1843 to bring the railway to Bradford: the line opened on 1 July 1846. The company was always closely allied with the Midland Railway, and within ten years the L&BR had been absorbed into the Midland, and disappeared.

The line and the two termini opened on 1 July 1846, with hourly services between the two and some direct services from Bradford to London Euston via Derby and Rugby. The nine intermediate stations opened within the next few weeks.

From 1848 an extension of the line ran via Skipton southwest towards Colne where it joined the East Lancashire Railway in 1849. This 11½ mile stretch was closed in January 1970. Today there is an active campaign to reinstate this missing stretch, led by the Skipton - East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership.

During the 18th century, Bradford was becoming an important centre of the wool trade, but was beginning to be hampered by the cost of transport—the town is not on a river of any size, and moreover is in a deep valley. During the 1760s and 1770s, a group of Bradford businessmen were the driving force for creating the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and its offshoot the Bradford Canal, in order to improve the town's communications.

The canals were very successful for Bradford; but from the 1830s, railways began to be built around the country, and again a group of Bradford businessmen were eager to benefit from this development. Various schemes were started, but none received enough support. Nor could the North Midland Railway be persuaded to extend its Derby to Leeds line to Bradford.

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