Batley railway station

Batley railway station serves the large town of Batley in West Yorkshire, England. Situated 8 miles (13 km) south west of Leeds on the main line to Huddersfield and Manchester, the station was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1848.

Batley
The entrance
LocationBatley, Kirklees
England
Coordinates53.709910°N 1.623020°W / 53.709910; -1.623020
Grid referenceSE249237
Managed byNorthern Trains
Transit authorityWest Yorkshire Metro
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBTL
Fare zone2
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Opened1848
Passengers
2015/16 0.331 million
2016/17 0.351 million
2017/18 0.338 million
2018/19 0.342 million
2019/20 0.342 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
The station in 1961

The station is now managed by Northern Trains, who operate the service from Leeds to Wigan Wallgate via Manchester Victoria. Services via Huddersfield are currently provided by TransPennine Express.

Facilities

Batley railway station is unstaffed, though the main buildings on the eastbound platform (1) still stand and are used as a waiting area and entrance; a self-service ticket machine is also located there. There is a shelter on Platform 2 and both have digital display screens and timetable posters for train running information provision. Only Platform 1 has step-free access, as the subway to Platform 2 has stairways.[1]

Services

The service here, which changed substantially in May 2018, was altered again at the December 2018 timetable change after issues with punctuality and service reliability. The net effect has been to essentially restore the pattern that formerly served the station prior to the May 2018 changes, which was one Leeds to Huddersfield stopping train per hour each way (now operated by TransPennine Express and calling at all local stations) and one Northern Trains service between Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Southport via Brighouse.[2] The former Southport trains now terminate at Wigan.

On Sundays, there is an hourly service to Leeds and Huddersfield.

History

The station was at one time rather larger than it is today, as it was also served by the Great Northern Railway branch line from Bradford to Wakefield via Dewsbury Central from December 1864 to 7 September 1964, when it fell victim to the Beeching Axe.[3] It was also the junction for branch lines to Birstall (opened in 1852, closed to passengers as a wartime economy measure in 1917 and to all traffic in 1963) and to Tingley and Beeston (opened in 1890, closed in 1951).[4][5] The station was significantly enlarged (with the addition of three extra platforms) on the opening of the latter route in August 1890, but reverted to the present twin-platform configuration after the closure and abandonment of the Bradford - Wakefield line in 1964/5.

Few traces of any of these routes remain today, but the abutments of the former bridge that took the Bradford line across the line from Leeds near Batley signal box (east of the station) can still be seen.

On June 2018, a protest was held by Batley and Spen MP, Tracy Brabin following weeks of disruption to its services after Northern announced the roll out of a new timetable. The Labour MP argued people who live in the north of the country are fed up of being at the bottom of the pile when it comes to transport investment.[6]

Notes

  1. Batley station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 16 January 2017
  2. Table 39 & 41 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  3. Railway Ramblers - Kirklees Accessed 11 April 2008
  4. "Tracking down history of local railways" Batley & Birstall News article 29 November 2007; Retrieved 8 January 2016
  5. Batley to Beeston 1890-1951Lost Railways West Yorkshire; Retrieved 8 January 2016
  6. "MP and commuters stage trains protest at Batley Station". Retrieved 27 February 2019.
Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Dewsbury   TransPennine Express
North TransPennine
(Huddersfield - Leeds)
  Morley
  Northern Trains
Wigan North Western - Leeds
 
Railways in North Kirklees
Past, present and future
Great Northern Railway
to Bradford
Leeds New Line
to Leeds
Howden Clough
Upper Batley
to Leeds
Birstall Town
Lower Birstall
Carlinghow
to Leeds
Gomersal
Chickenley Heath
Batley
Cleckheaton Spen
Liversedge Central
Liversedge Spen
Batley Carr
Staincliffe and Batley Carr
Heckmondwike Central
Heckmondwike Spen
Dewsbury Wellington Road
Dewsbury Central
Dewsbury Market Place
Northorpe North Road
Earlsheaton
Ravensthorpe Lower
Dewsbury Goods
(NMR)
Huddersfield Line
to Wakefield
Ravensthorpe
original
proposed
Thornhill
North Midland Railway
to Royston and Notton
Mirfield
Leeds New Line
to Huddersfield
Huddersfield Line
to Huddersfield
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