Airedale Line

The Airedale Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the Metro area centred on West Yorkshire in northern England. The service is operated by Northern Rail, on the route connecting Leeds and Bradford with Skipton. Some services along the line continue to Morecambe or Carlisle. The route covered by the service was historically part of the Midland Railway.

According to SELRAP, the Airedale Line is the most heavily utilised passenger route outside the South East of England.

The route and its history

The first section, between Leeds and Bradford (Forster Square station), was opened by the Leeds and Bradford Railway on 1 July 1846. A number of the intermediate stations were closed in March 1965 (as a result of the Beeching Axe), however the line and its major stations remained open. Some of the closed stations, such as Saltaire, were re-opened during the 1980s.

In 1994 under British Rail, the line was electrified at 25 kV AC Overhead between Leeds and Skipton, and new British Rail Class 333 trains were introduced in the early 2000s. Investment in the line has seen passenger numbers grow, and now overcrowding on trains is a problem. New stock and longer trains are to be introduced by the new Northern Rail franchisee Arriva Rail North by December 2018 to tackle this issue.