Leeds
The New Station Street entrance in August 2022
General information
Other names	Leeds City
Location	Leeds,City of Leeds, England
Coordinates	53°47′38″N1°32′49″W / 53.794°N 1.547°W /53.794; -1.547
Grid reference	SE299331
Managed by	Network Rail
Transit authority	West Yorkshire Metro
Platforms	18 - numbered 0-17 (National Rail)
Other information
Station code	LDS
Fare zone	1
Classification	DfT category A
History
Opened	2 May 1938; 87 years ago (1938-05-02) Rebuilt 1967; 58 years ago (1967) Rebuilt 2002; 23 years ago (2002)
Passengers
2019/20	31.021 million
2020/21	5.854 million
2021/22	19.263 million
Interchange	1.798 million
2022/23	23.964 million
Interchange	2.489 million
2023/24	24.891 million
Interchange	2.684 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail & Road

Leeds railway station (also known asLeeds City)^[1][2][3][4] serves thecity centre ofLeeds, inWest Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south ofCity Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmarkQueens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed byNetwork Rail.^[5]

Leeds is an important hub on the British railway network, being a principal stop on the following lines:

• The terminus of the Leeds branch of theEast Coast Main Line, on which London North Eastern Railway provides high speed inter-city services toLondon King's Cross every half hour
• TheCross Country Route betweenScotland, theMidlands andSouth West England connecting toGlasgow Central,Edinburgh Waverley,Derby,Birmingham New Street,Bristol Temple Meads,Exeter St Davids,Plymouth andPenzance.
• The trans-PennineHuddersfield line, with inter-city services to major destinations throughoutNorthern England, includingManchester Piccadilly,Liverpool Lime Street,York andNewcastle.
• The terminus for trains running on the scenicSettle–Carlisle line toCarlisle.

Leeds is also a major hub for local and regional destinations acrossYorkshire, includingHarrogate, York,Scarborough,Hull,Doncaster andSheffield. The station lies at the heart of theWest Yorkshire Metrocommuter network for West Yorkshire providing services toBradford Interchange,Wakefield Kirkgate,Dewsbury,Huddersfield andHalifax.

With 24.9 million passenger entries and exits between April 2023 and March 2024, Leeds is the second busiest railway station inNorthern England, after Manchester Piccadilly, and is the fourth-busiest in the United Kingdom outside London.^[6]

The station is situated on a hill falling from the south of the city to theRiver Aire and theLeeds and Liverpool Canal basin. Much of it is supported onVictorian brick-vaulted arches situated just off Neville Street which contain a centre consisting of cafés, restaurants, shops and exhibition spaces calledGranary Wharf, known locally as the Dark Arches.

It has 18 platforms, making it the largest station by number of platforms in England outside London; there are 12 terminus and six through platforms. Most platforms are subdivided into up to four sections, e.g. 1a, 1b and 1c. Altogether, including the section splits, there are 47 platforms.^[7] Retail facilities in the station include coffee shops, fast food outlets, a bar, newsagents, chemists and supermarkets. ABritish Transport Police station on New Station Street houses officers who police West Yorkshire's stations.

It retained staffed ticket barriers through the 1990s until 2008, when they were replaced by automatic barriers byNorthern Rail to reduce congestion around the barriers at peak times.^[2][8]

Platform usage varies depending on operational circumstances but is generally:

• 0–5:bay platforms mostly used byWest Yorkshire Metro services operated by Northern Trains, towards Harrogate,Ilkley,Bradford Forster Square andSkipton.
• 6; a bay platform used for London North Eastern Railway services terminating from London and towards Harrogate.
• 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16: through platforms. 8 is a through platform that London North Eastern Railway uses for services which both terminate and continue onward to Bradford, Harrogate and Skipton as well as the early morning departure to Aberdeen. CrossCountry services heading north to York and beyond depart from platforms 8, 9 or 11; services heading south use platform 12. Platforms 15 and 16 are used by north-east and south-westbound TransPennine Express services to Hull, Newcastle, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough, Huddersfield, Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street.
• 7, 14: bay platforms used for local Northern Trains' services running north-east from Leeds.
• 10, 13, 17: bay platforms used for local and regional services running south-west to Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield, alongside southbound services towards Wakefield, Barnsley, Meadowhall, Sheffield and Nottingham.

The railway arrived in Leeds in 1834, when theLeeds and Selby Railway (which became part of theNorth Eastern Railway) opened its line. It had a terminus atMarsh Lane east of the city centre. In 1840, theNorth Midland Railway (a constituent of theMidland Railway) constructed its line fromDerby viaRotherham to a terminus atHunslet Lane to the south. It was extended to a more centrally located terminus at Wellington Street in 1846, known asWellington Station.^[9]

Leeds Central, on Wellington Street, was opened in 1854 by theManchester and Leeds Railway and theLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR). It became owned jointly by the LNWR and the North Eastern Railway, but other companies had powers to run trains there, including theGreat Northern Railway and theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway.^[10]

In 1869,New Station opened as a joint enterprise by the LNWR and the North Eastern Railway. It connected the former Leeds and Selby Railway line to the east with the LNWR lines to the west. A one-mile-long (1.6 km) connection was built, carried entirely on viaducts and bridges. New Station was built partially on a bridge over theRiver Aire, adjacent to Wellington station. The arches created under the station are known as 'The Dark Arches'.^[11]

The map to the right shows the variety of different railway lines in Leeds in 1913.

Following theRailways Act 1921, when railways in Great Britain were grouped into four companies, New Station was jointly operated by theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER).^[9]

The first rationalisation occurred in 1938, when New and Wellington stations were combined to formLeeds City, opening on 2 May of that year. This was designed by LMS architectWilliam Henry Hamlyn. The third, Leeds Central, was unaffected by the change. Part of Wellington station later became a parcels depot. The north concourse and the Queens Hotel were built at this time.

In March 1941, theLuftwaffe launched attacks on Leeds,Armley,Beeston andBramley. Leeds New Station was one of the primary targets, along with the Town Hall, Kirkgate Markets, the Central Post office, the Quarry Hill flats, Hotel Metropole and part of the Inner Ring Road. The station was bombed, causing damage and an unknown number of casualties, and was later rebuilt.

TheTransport Act 1947 nationalised nearly all forms ofmass transport in Great Britain and came into effect on 1 January 1948.^[12]British Railways came into existence as the business name of theRailway Executive of theBritish Transport Commission (BTC) on 1 January 1948.

In 1962, British Railways House, now City House, was built. It was designed by architectJohn Poulson providing British Railways with administrative buildings. The building became dated and hard to let before refurbishment in 2009. It was lambasted in 1967 by poetJohn Betjeman who said it blocked all the light out of City Square and was a testament to money with no architectural merit. In 2010, the building was bought by property companyBruntwood, which is (as of 2017) redeveloping it to provide serviced offices, with a new look to the façade.

In 1967, further remodelling of the site took place; trains using Central station were diverted into City station; it was closed and later demolished. The viaduct leading to Central station is one of many that are disused in the vicinity. Engineering work included replacing 100-year-old bridges over theLeeds and Liverpool Canal, the construction of the south concourse and an overall roof, along with major platform and track layout alterations and the commissioning of a new power signal box to control the station area.

At the time of this rebuilding, the station was served by 500 trains on a typical day, with 2.75 million passenger journeys a year. Wellington (or City North) became entirely devoted to parcels traffic at this time, with the track layout extensively changed. The remaining Midland line trains which previously used City North station were diverted into the City South station, the former LNWR/NER 'New' station, and called simplyLeeds from this time.

The station had overhead electrification installed under the ownership of British Rail in 1988, to facilitate usage of the newClass 91 services on the East Coast Main Line.^[13]

By the 1990s, the station's capacity was exceeded on a daily basis and the 1967 design was deemed inadequate. Between 1999 and 2002, a major rebuilding project took place, branded asLeeds 1st. This project saw the construction of additional approach tracks at the western end of the station, improving efficiency by separating trains travelling to or from different destinations and preventing them from having to cross each other's routes. The station was expanded from 12 to 17 platforms, with the construction of new platforms on the south side, and reopening of the disused parcels depot to passengers on the north side.

The majority of the track, points and signals were also replaced and the 1967 power box closed – control being handed over to the signalling centre atYork. The most visible change to passengers, however, was the replacement of the 1967 metal canopy with a new glass roof, considerably increasing the amount of daylight on the platforms. A new footbridge was also provided, replacing the previous underpass. Ancillary improvements included a new multi-storey car park and railway station entrance, refurbishing the North Concourse and expanding retail facilities.

A small temporary station calledLeeds Whitehall was provided to handle some services while the station was being remodelled. This was used between September 1999 and February 2002.^[14]

In 2008, automated ticket gates were installed in place of the human-controlled ticket checking, to speed up the passage of passengers. When the gates came into operation at the end of October 2008, they suffered from several faults including accepting expired tickets.^[15] An oversight on the part of Northern also meant that the gates were not compatible with West Yorkshire Metro Cards.^[16]

A £17.3 million southern entrance to allow for easier access from the south completed on 3 January 2016.^[17][18] It widens the station's western footbridge and provides escalators, stairs and lifts to a partial deck over the River Aire in an iconic structure. The deck provides access to either side of the river for passengers to access Granary Wharf and Little Neville Street orHolbeck. It contains extra ticket vending machines and cycle storage. Around 20%^[17] of passengers are expected to use the new entrance.^[19][20]

Work on a new terminal platform alongside platform 1 (labelled platform 0) began in late 2018 and was completed in January 2021.^[21][22]

In November 2018, Network Rail began work to improve the south concourse. The first phase of works aimed to reduce congestion by moving and expanding ticket barriers. A new transparent roof was installed, matching the design at the Southern entrance, with works completed in October 2019.^[23][24]

• On 13 January 1892, a fire broke out in the arches underneath the station carrying the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The fire burned for two days, with the heat buckling the rails and causing significant damage to the permanent way. One person died when a platform collapsed underneath him.^[25]
• On 23 July 1993, a passenger train ran into the rear of another occupying a platform. Twenty-one people were injured.^[26]
• On 17 April 1997, a small bomb planted by theProvisional Irish Republican Army exploded at a relay cabinet near the station, causing the city centre's closure for six hours.^[27][28]

This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2021)

Leeds station is the second-busiest outside London in the United Kingdom,^[29] and passenger numbers are expected to increase by 63% between 2014 and 2029, meaning further expansion is necessary.^[30] Future expansion involved linking the station to the proposedHigh Speed 2 network; however, the northern leg of was cancelled in 2021.

In October 2017, it was proposed that the station could be remodelled for the HS2 scheme. It included new platforms on the north side of Leeds, with HS2 services running into the existing east–west platforms, and new terminal platforms allowing links to 'Northern Powerhouse Rail'.^[31] In November 2017, details were released about how the station might look.^[32]

Plans are being drawn up to expand the station's capacity. New lines and platforms would be built alongside platform one, in the Riverside car park on the site of the original Wellington station, to cater for predicted growth.

West Yorkshire Metro have announced plans to replace platform 1 with three separate platforms using the car park next to it. This would increase platform numbers from 17 to 20.

The original plans for High Speed 2 proposed a separate new station in Leeds, to the south of the River Aire atNew Lane.^[33][34] However, a later review in November 2015 instead recommends that HS2 platforms be added to the existing station.^[35] These would attach to the southern part of the existing station building, and span the river in a north–south alignment to create a 'T' shape.

This would not link the high speed and classic rail services, but it would allow a common concourse for easy interchange between them. These plans were approved by the Government in November 2016.^[36][37]

However, on 18 November 2021,Grant Shapps (Transport Secretary) announced that the eastern leg of HS2 would be cancelled, terminating atEast Midlands Parkway instead of going all the way to Leeds.^[38] Eventually, the leg reaching East Midlands Parkway was scrapped too, with no new track north ofBirmingham Curzon Street.^[39]

Northern Trains Route 7
v t e
Settle & Carlisle & Bentham lines
Carlisle Armathwaite Lazonby & Kirkoswald Langwathby Appleby Kirkby Stephen Garsdale Dent Ribblehead Horton-in-Ribblesdale Settle Heysham Port Morecambe Bare Lane Lancaster Carnforth Wennington Bentham Clapham Giggleswick Long Preston Hellifield Gargrave Skipton Keighley Bingley Shipley Leeds

Northern Trains Route 9
v t e
Calder Valley Line and East Lancashire Line
York Ulleskelf Church Fenton Micklefield East Garforth Garforth Cross Gates Leeds Bramley New Pudsey Bradford Interchange Low Moor Halifax Sowerby Bridge Mytholmroyd Hebden Bridge Manchester Victoria Moston Mills Hill Castleton Rochdale Smithy Bridge Littleborough Walsden Todmorden Colne Nelson Brierfield Burnley Central Burnley Barracks Burnley Manchester Road Rose Grove Hapton Huncoat Accrington Church and Oswaldtwistle Rishton Blackburn Mill Hill Cherry Tree Pleasington Bamber Bridge Lostock Hall Preston Salwick Kirkham and Wesham Poulton-le-Fylde Blackpool North Moss Side Lytham Ansdell and Fairhaven St Annes-on-the-Sea Squires Gate Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool South
Burnley Barracks,Hapton and Pleasington are request stops.

The station is served by long-distance services operated by CrossCountry, London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express. Suburban services are operated under theWest Yorkshire MetroTrain brand and regional services by Northern Trains; it is the hub of the West Yorkshire Metro network.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is:

London North Eastern Railway

• 2 tph toLondon King's Cross
• 1 tp2h toHarrogate
• 1 tp2h toBradford Forster Square
• 1 tpd toSkipton
• 1 tpd toAberdeen

CrossCountry

• 1 tph toEdinburgh, with 1 tpd continuing toGlasgow Central and 1 tpd continuing toAberdeen^[40]
• 1 tph toPlymouth, with 2 tpd continuing toPenzance^[41]

TransPennine Express

• 1 tph toNewcastle
• 8 tpd toScarborough^[42]
• 1 tph toRedcar Central viaMiddlesbrough
• 1 tph toHull
• 1 tph toLiverpool Lime Street viaManchester Victoria^[43]
• 1 tph toManchester Piccadilly
• 1 tph toManchester Airport

Northern Trains

• 2 tph toSkipton (theAiredale line)
• 2 tph toIlkley (theWharfedale line)
• 2 tph toBradford Forster Square
• 1 tp2h toMorecambe
• 1 tp2h toCarlisle, via theSettle–Carlisle line
• 1 tph toBlackpool North, viaBradford Interchange,Blackburn andPreston
• 3 tph to Manchester via theCalder Valley line:
  • 1 tph terminating atManchester Victoria, viaBradford Interchange (semi-fast)
  • 1 tph toChester, viaBradford Interchange
  • 1 tph toWigan Wallgate, viaBrighouse
• 1 tph toHalifax^[44]
• 3 tph toSheffield via theHallam line:
  • 1 tph terminating atSheffield, viaCastleford (stopping)
  • 1 tph continuing toNottingham (semi-fast)
  • 1 tph continuing toLincoln (semi-fast)
• 1 tph toSheffield viaWakefield Westgate
• 1 tph toDoncaster
• 2 tph toKnottingley:
  • 1 tph viaCastleford, with 1 tpd continuing toGoole
  • 1 tph viaWakefield Westgate
• 1 tph toHull^[45]
• 2 tph toYork viaGarforth (one fast, one stopping)
• 2 tph toYork viaHarrogate

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Wakefield Westgate		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		York
		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Terminus
				Horsforth
				Shipley
				Keighley
Terminus				York
Huddersfield		TransPennine Express North TransPennine		York
Dewsbury
Batley				Garforth
Cottingley				Terminus
Terminus		Northern Wharfedale Line		Guiseley
		Northern Airedale Line		Shipley
		Northern Settle-Carlisle Line
		Northern Leeds-Morecambe Line
		Northern Leeds-Bradford Line		Kirkstall Forge
		Northern Harrogate Line		Burley Park
New Pudsey		Northern Blackpool North–York		Church Fenton
New Pudsey		Northern Calder Valley line		Terminus
Morley
Bramley
Bramley		Northern Halifax–Hull		Cross Gates
Woodlesford		Northern Hallam Line		Terminus
Woodlesford		Northern Pontefract Line
Outwood		Northern Wakefield Line
Wakefield Kirkgate		Northern Leeds–Nottingham
		Northern Leeds–Lincoln

East Midlands Railway (EMR) and its predecessors operated a number of services to and fromLondon St Pancras via theMidland Main Line until May 2022. Two evening northbound and two morning southbound services operated primarily to cycleInterCity 125 sets throughNeville Hill TMD.^[46] After EMR withdrew its last InterCity 125 sets in May 2021, the service was reduced to a single northbound service operated by aClass 222; it was withdrawn in May 2022.^[47]

v t e Leeds Lines
Legend
Past, present and future
to Ilkley York and Selby Lines toChurch Fenton ROF Thorp Arch York and Selby Lines toChurch Fenton Thorp Arch Circular Railway Thorp Arch Harrogate Line toHarrogate York and Selby Lines toSelby Otley Micklefield Pool Wetherby Racecourse Harrogate Line toHarrogate Wetherby (York Road) Menston Wakefield Lines toCastleford Arthington Ledston Golden Acre Park Rly Wetherby High Royds Hospital Railway East Leeds Parkway /Roman Road to Shipley Bowers Halt to Shipley Collingham Bridge Apperley Bridge Kippax Guiseley Bardsey Calverley & Rodley East Garforth Yeadon Thorner Leeds Bradford Airport (proposed) Aberford Newlay and Horsforth Garforth Horsforth HS2 toYork Kirkstall Forge Scholes Horsforth Woodside BarnbowROF Kirkstall Abbey Manston (1851–1869) Headingley HS2 to Methley Kirkstall Bridge Road Penda's Way Kirkstall Cross Gates Burley Park Halton Dial (1851–1864) Armley Mills Museum Osmondthorpe Royal Gardens (Summer 1857) Cardigan Lane Goods Armley Canal Road Hunslet Goods (NER) Montague's Field Marsh Lane Wellington Street Goods Hunslet Goods (GNR) Leeds Central Leeds Wellington Holbeck Leeds (New Station) Whitehall Junction New Lane (HS2) Holbeck Junction Hunslet Swing Bridge Leeds Whitehall Farnley Viaduct Whitehall Road Goods Cassons Close (MR) Copley Hill Kidacre Street (MR) Wortley West Curve Hunslet Lane Armley and Wortley Middleton Old Run Farnley & Wortley Hunslet Bramley Moor Road Beeston Balm Road Sidings Stanningley GNRHunslet Goods Branch Pudsey Lowtown Middleton River Branch ca. 1755–1809 New Pudsey Park Halt Pudsey Greenside LeedsFreightliner terminal to Bradford via Laisterdyke Jane Pit (MR) to Shipley via Idle Stourton Junction Tingley Ardsley to Dudley Hill Rothwell Farnley Branch Robin Hood to Bradford via Laisterdyke Woodkirk Cottingley to Newmarket Colliery Churwell to Batley' Gildersome East Woodlesford Morley Low Outwood Morley Top HS2 to Garforth Gildersome West Methley to Huddersfield to Wakefield to Batley HS2 to Crofton Drighlington & Adwalton Methley Junction to Batley Methley South Wakefield Lines toNormanton viaAltofts Wakefield Lines toCastleford Cutsyke to Dudley Hill Wakefield Lines toCastleford

Leeds Interchange, located at the New Station Street exit, provides onward transport connections from the station. There are five bus stands servingArriva Yorkshire,First West Yorkshire and Flyer routes 1, 4, 4F, 5, 14, 16, 16A, 19, 19A, 40, 444, 446, 870, A1 andDalesBus services 874 and 875.

A 24-hour taxi rank also operates at the interchange.

Further bus stops are located on Neville Street, as well as around City Square. Infirmary Street and Boar Lane bus points are a short walk for more connections.

Leeds Interchange used to host a cycle hub that provided services including repair, storage and rental. The facility opened in summer 2010, designed to encourage visitors and commuters into Leeds to continue their journey by bike.^[48] Its design was based on the Dutch cyclepoint concept.^[49]

The cycle hub was demolished in 2023 as part of the Leeds City Station Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme.^[50] It will be replaced by a larger underground cycle park in the Mill Goit, an artificial channel beneath the station, currently planned to open in October 2025.^[51]

• Listed buildings in Leeds (City and Hunslet Ward - northern area)

• Haigh, Phil (25 February – 10 March 1998). "A station for the 21st century...".Rail. No. 325. EMAP Apex Publications. pp. 20–24.ISSN 0953-4563.OCLC 49953699.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLeeds railway station.

• Train times andstation information for Leeds railway station fromNational Rail
• https://web.archive.org/web/20160805024619/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/virtualarchive/leeds-station/ – history of the station from Network Rail archives

• Art Deco architecture in Leeds
• Art Deco railway stations
• DfT Category A stations
• Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations
• Former London and North Eastern Railway stations
• Network Rail managed stations
• Railway stations in Leeds
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1938
• Railway stations served by CrossCountry
• Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway
• Railway stations served by Northern
• Railway stations served by TransPennine Express
• Union stations in the United Kingdom
• 1869 establishments in England

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