| Airedale line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Class 333 atCrossflatts in 2006 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Open | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | West Yorkshire Yorkshire and the Humber | ||
| Termini |
| ||
| Stations | 11 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Commuter rail | ||
| Operator(s) | London North Eastern Railway,Northern | ||
| Rolling stock | British Rail Class 333 (majority of services) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1846 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Number of tracks | 2 | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge | ||
| Electrification | Overhead catenary | ||
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TheAiredale line is one of the rail services in theWest Yorkshire Metro area centred onWest Yorkshire in northern England. The service is operated byNorthern, on the route connectingLeeds andBradford withSkipton. Some services along the line continue toMorecambe orCarlisle. The route covered by the service was historically part of theMidland Railway.
According toSELRAP, the Airedale line is the most heavily used passenger route outside theSouth East of England.[1]
The first section, between Leeds andBradford (Forster Square station), was opened by theLeeds and Bradford Railway on 1 July 1846. A number of the intermediate stations were closed in March 1965 (as a result of theBeeching Axe), however the line and its major stations remained open. Some of the closed stations, such asSaltaire, were re-opened during the 1980s.
In 1994 underRegional Railways, the line waselectrified at 25 kV AC overhead between Leeds and Skipton,[2] and newBritish Rail Class 333 trains were introduced in the early 2000s. Investment in the line has seen passenger numbers grow,[2] and now overcrowding on trains is a problem.[3] New stock and longer trains were introduced by the former Northern franchiseArriva Rail North in 2019 to tackle this issue.[4]
The route is described below. The line originally included a number of stations which are now closed:
Trains of theLeeds–Morecambe line andSettle–Carlisle line also run along the Airedale line from Leeds.
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The line is operated byNorthern Trains. The fare structure is as follows (these show theWest Yorkshire Metro rail zones):
Network Rail previously looked at ways of increasing capacity on the line. Because of the difficulty of lengthening platforms atShipley, it will be hard to introduce longer trains (i.e. 5 or 6 carriages) as was proposed on the neighbouringWharfedale line. It was therefore proposed to run more trains per hour between Leeds and Keighley, a new platform at Keighley would have helped accommodate this.[6] New stations were opened atApperley Bridge in December 2015 andKirkstall Forge in June 2016.[7]
London North Eastern Railway currently operate a small number of daily services on the line, between Skipton/Bradford andLondon King's Cross. These are operated byClass 91s andClass 801s.[citation needed]East Coast wanted to run more frequent services from December 2009 but to do so the line would need more capacity.[8]
A 2008 report byModern Railways claimed that a solid hourly service would operate on the line as far asLong Preston, but would serveCarlisle andLancaster alternately. It may also become a freight artery to improve capacity on theWest Coast Main Line. Network Rail's own plans involved new signalling and other improvements for the sections of the line beyond Skipton. Carlisle services would be increased to a basic two-hour pattern with extra services to 'fill in the gaps' at peak times during the day to give a 1 train/h frequency.[9] Lancaster services would be made more frequent, however it was suggested they would be terminated at Skipton, rather than continuing through to Leeds.[9] All of these plans were dependent on getting enough government funding.
