The Anonymous Widower

Plan To Develop New ‘Southern Gateway’ Through Station In City Centre

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Bradford Telgraph and Argus.

This is the sub-heading.

Work to develop a new city centre rail station in Bradford could soon be back on the rails, despite the Government cancelling the local Northern Powerhouse Rail line

These are the first two paragraphs.

It has today been announced that the UK Infrastructure Bank will be working with Bradford Council to plan and develop a proposed “Southern Gateway” station in the city centre.

Although few details have been announced so far, the station is expected to be a through station, and is likely to be on the site off Wakefield Road currently occupied by St James’ Wholesale Market.

This sounds like an updating with finance of a plan I wrote about in Bradford Seeks Support On Rail Project Which Could Deliver £30bn Benefits.

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the rail lines in the Bradford area.

Note.

New Pudsey station is in the North-East corner of the map.

Bradford Foster Square and Bradford Interchange stations are in the North-West corner of the map.

Low Moor station is in the South-West corner of the map.

This second OpenRailwayMap shows an enlargement of the lines across Bradford.

Note.

Bradford Interchange station is in the North-West corner of the map.

The railway lines are shown in yellow.

New Pudsey station is off the map to the East and on the way to Leeds.

Some trains between Leeds and Bradford are routed via New Pudsey station and the loop in this map.

The railway between New Pudsey and Bradford Interchange stations goes under a roundabout on the Wakefield Road.

This Google Map shows St. James Wholesale Market and the railway to the North-East of the roundabout.

Note.

1. St. James Wholesale Market is marked by the red arrow.
2. The railway between New Pudsey and Bradford Interchange stations goes under the roundabout at the bottom of the map.

There’s certainly a lot of space to the East of the market. Could the new station be built with a lot of adjacent open space like King’s Cross and Liverpool Lime Street.

These are further thoughts.

Will There Be A New Chord South Of Bradford Interchange Station?

This section is an edited version of a section from Bradford Seeks Support On Rail Project Which Could Deliver £30bn Benefits.

This Google Map, shows Mill Lane Junction, where the lines from New Pudsey and Bradford Low Moor stations join South of Bradford Interchange station.

Note.

1. Bradford Interchange station is on the rail line to the North.
2. The proposed new Bradford station and the existing New Pudsey station are on the rail line to the East.
3. Bradford Low Moor station is on the rail line to the South.

It would appear that an extra chord should be added to the junction to allow trains between Manchester Victoria and Leeds running via the Calder Valley Line to call at the new station in Bradford.

Current trains between Manchester Victoria and Leeds using this route have to reverse at Bradford Interchange. The new station and the extra chord would avoid this.

Will Bradford Interchange Station Be Closed?

That is a big question and depends on the overall plan.

I await the full plan with interest.

But building the new chord, closing Interchange station and avoiding the reverse will speed up services.

What Trains Will Call At The New Station?

Currently, only these trains from Northern, go through the station site.

• Hull and Halifax
• Leeds and Chester
• Leeds and Manchester Victoria
• York and Blackpool North

Note.

1. All have a frequency of one train per hour (tph)
2. All currently reverse at Bradford Interchange.
3. All call at Leeds, New Pudsey and Halifax.
4. Three tph call at Bramley and Hebden Bridge.
5. Two tph call at Manchester Victoria, Rochdale and Todmorden.
6. One tph calls at Low Moor.

I suspect these service could be augmented to perhaps give the following.

Four tph to Hebden Bridge, Rochdale and Manchester Victoria.

The only other trains passing though the area are Grand Central’s four trains per day (tpd) between London King’s Cross and Bradford Interchange via Low Moor.

• If these trains terminated in a bay platform at the new station, would this enable their frequency to be increased?
• Or could the services be extended to Leeds?

The new station certainly opens up possibilities.

 

 

May 17, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Bradford, Bradford Forster Square Station, Bradford Interchange Station, Grand Central Trains, Low Moor Station, New Stations, Northern Trains, UK Infrastructure Bank