page_title: The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire
section_title: Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway
hierarchical_section_title: The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire / Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire, England, in 1857
context_page_description: The Great Northern Railway developed an extensive network over time, having started in 1846 with the intention of connecting London and York, as well as other major Yorkshire towns. The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire was a major part of that, although the GNR did not succeed in reaching York as it originally intended. By acquiring running powers it reached Leeds, Bradford and Halifax over other companies' lines, as well as Barnsley Sheffield and Grimsby, and then York too. After acquiring local companies it developed a network, chiefly in West Yorkshire. Later it built lines north and west of Bradford into hilly terrain, and these were very expensive to build, and never repaid the initial cost.
  Carrying coal to the southern counties was its primary business: huge volumes were conveyed; however fast passenger express trains memorably caught the public imagination. Passenger express operation within West Yorkshire was important too, especially as residential travel developed. The St Leger race meetings at Doncaster attracted huge volumes of excursions, 1,149 excursion trains over four days in 1888.
context_section_description: The GNR's access to West Yorkshire was further enhanced by the opening to the public on 5 October 1857 of the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway. Its line ran from Wakefield Kirkgate station to Holbeck junction, immediately south of Leeds. The new line enabled direct running into Leeds Central, avoiding the former reversal off the Leeds and Thirsk Railway; furthermore the route by-passed the Midland Railway. There was a triangular junction at Wortley, outside Leeds, enabling through running from Wakefield to Bradford. The GNR worked the line, and made use of running powers over the Halifax Junction company's line.
caption: The GNR sysytem in Yorkshire in 1857
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