Complex sentence: Freight trains started running between Ripon and Thirsk on 5 January 1848, on 31 May 1848 the line was formally opened and public traffic started the next day; trains started running through to a temporary terminus in Leeds in July 1849.
Split into simpler sentences: Freight trains started running between Ripon and Thirsk on 5 January 1848 before the line was formally opened on 31 May 1848, public traffic starting the next day. Trains started running through to a temporary terminus in Leeds in July 1849.