Sowerby Bridge
National Rail
Platform 2 at Sowerby Bridge railway station
General information
LocationSowerby Bridge, Calderdale
England
Coordinates53°42′29″N 1°54′25″W / 53.708°N 1.907°W / 53.708; -1.907
Grid referenceSE062235
Managed byNorthern
Transit authorityWest Yorkshire (Metro)
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeSOW
Fare zone5
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Original companyManchester and Leeds Railway
Pre-groupingLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
5 October 1840First station opened
1 September 1876Station re-sited
1981Rebuilt
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.372 million
2019/20Increase 0.410 million
2020/21Decrease 91,060
2021/22Increase 0.274 million
2022/23Increase 0.339 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Sowerby Bridge railway station serves the town of Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Caldervale Line 4.5 miles (7 km) west of Halifax and 21 miles (34 km) west of Leeds.

History

The original station was opened on 5 October 1840 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway, on a site 662 yards (605 m) further west (on the other side of the River Ryburn) of the current site.[1] Prior to opening, in August 1840, Branwell Brontë was engaged as 'assistant clerk in charge' at Sowerby Bridge, for which his salary was £75 per annum; he transferred to Luddendenfoot on 1 April 1841.[2] The station became a junction from 1 January 1852, when a branch line from nearby Milner Royd Junction to Halifax was opened by the M&L's successor company the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; this allowed through trains to operate to Bradford Exchange and eventually Leeds via Stanningley from 1854. Ahead of the opening of the Rishworth branch in the 1880s, a new station was built on the current site[3] - this opened on 1 September 1876.[1]

Regular passenger services along the original M&L main line via Brighouse (to Wakefield Kirkgate and York) were withdrawn by British Rail on 5 January 1970. Through trains between Manchester & York over the route had ended in the mid-1960s (due to the Beeching Axe), leaving a much-reduced DMU service in later years that started/terminated here and connected with the Calder Valley trains via Bradford. The route remained in use for freight and was subsequently re-opened to passengers on a limited basis in 2000, with an all day service restored in 2007.

A major fire in 1978 resulted in the demolition of most of the buildings by British Rail in 1980. New canopies were erected in 1981 on the remaining platforms, with a ticket office housed in the surviving wing of the 1870s station, however this closed in 1983[3] and the station is now unstaffed.[4] In 2008, the former ticket office building was re-opened as a bar called the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms.[5]

A ticket machine was installed in 2011, allowing passengers to buy tickets before boarding for the first time in almost 30 years. Recent work has seen the installation of an electronic passenger information system (PIS), giving details of forthcoming departures, and the car park enlarged[6] which is currently free to use. Step-free access is available to both platforms via the inclined subway linking them or from adjoining roads.[4]

A volunteer group, The Friends of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station, was founded in 2010, to improve the station's environs.[7]

Accidents and incidents

  • On 22 October 1903, an express passenger train was in collision with a light engine due to a signalman's error. Another passenger train collided with the wreckage at low speed. One person was killed.[8]
  • On 13 January 1963, a diesel train working from York to Liverpool caught fire as it entered the tunnel to the west of the station. The 70 passengers de-trained and walked back through the railway to the station. Although the last coach was on fire and the passengers evacuated past the blazing coach, there were no casualties.[9]

Services

The station now has a twice hourly basic service on weekdays and Saturdays. Eastbound trains run to Leeds via Bradford and via Dewsbury (hourly to each, plus a few peak extras). Westbound there are two trains per hour to Manchester Victoria, one of which continues to Wigan Wallgate and the other to Chester. Weekday service to Chester service via Warrington Bank Quay began at the May 2019 timetable change. The York to Blackpool North service that previously stopped here all week now only does so on Monday-Saturday evening peak services and Sundays, which has led to complaints from the local rail user group with regard to the reduction in service levels.[10]

Sundays see an hourly service each way between York and Blackpool North trains (as noted above) and an hourly service between Leeds and Manchester Victoria (which now continues to Chester).[11] All these service go via Halifax and Bradford Interchange, there are no services from Sowerby Bridge via Dewsbury on a Sunday.[12]

Route

At Milner Royd Junction, approximately a quarter of a mile to the east of the lines to Halifax and Brighouse diverge. Immediately east of the station, the dismantled branch line to Ripponden and Rishworth diverged to the southwest, until its closure in 1958.[13] This had at one time its own separate wooden platform south of the main station and linked to it by a short footpath.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Mytholmroyd   Northern
Caldervale Line		   Halifax
    Brighouse
Disused railways
Luddendenfoot   L&YR
Manchester - Halifax		   Copley
  L&YR
Manchester - Normanton		   Greetland
Watson's Crossing Halt   L&YR
Rishworth branch		   Terminus

References

  1. 1 2 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 217. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. ↑ Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 52. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
  3. 1 2 "History". Jubilee Refreshment Rooms. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Station facilities for Sowerby Bridge". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  5. ↑ "Refreshing change at Pennine station". Yorkshire Post. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Station Car Park Extensions" (PDF). My Journey Newsletter. West Yorkshire Metro. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Home Page". The Friends of Sowerby Bridge Station. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 65. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.
  9. ↑ Haley, William, ed. (14 January 1963). "Blazing train in tunnel". The Times. No. 55598. p. 8. ISSN 0140-0460.
  10. ↑ December timetable update Waring, J.S; "HADRAG" website article; Retrieved 18 December 2019
  11. ↑ Table 37 National Rail timetable, May 2023
  12. ↑ "Sowerby Bridge station". Northern Rail. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "L&YR Sowerby Bridge - Rishworth". Railway Ramblers. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
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