Closing the gap in Bradford

[quantinghome]

And all the businesses and industry between all these...

But again I'm not making the case for it, at least not any more (a decade ago I was when the Broadway had not been built). I would love if in some alternate universe it came to pass, but it won't.

There's a rule of thumb used by some in the rail industry - if there's a dual carriageway along a route then there's probably enough demand for a rail line. So it's no surprise people look at the Shipley-Airedale road and say 'why not put this lot on a rail line?' The problem is it has such a diversity of destinations which fan out pretty quickly north and south, which makes any train service difficult. And to the south the obvious route for the trains to use doesn't exist, leaving us with one slow line going in the wrong direction.

 

[30907]

So before the contest to find as many routes that might be quicker by bus gets too heated, allow me to reiterate my point here, as members often get carried away.

I don't think the Keighley lobby was serious

So the time may not be far way were some drivers might actually start to look for alternatives. So I propose a cheap 'n' cheerful medium term solution to the problem of better linking the two Bradford stations. Build a covered walkway from Forster Square to the Broadway, and another from the Broadway over Hall Ings and towards the Interchange.

The walking route could certainly be improved - especially now the Hall Ings car park is coming down - and the LA have plans for further pedestrianisation through the city centre.

Google Maps shows the route from the Aire Valley and Wharfedale to the M1 south as through Shipley and Bradford and M62. Sometimes straight through the centre, sometimes round the western ring road. But people who know their way round go through Leeds*, but there must be a fair view just following their satnav.

I might use the Stanningley Bypass for the M1 South if the M62 was worse than usual, but not Leeds. It's different from Wharfedale though, or from Skipton and further up.

If these journeys were to convert to rail then they would go via Leeds.

Agree - mostly.

 

[Glenn1969]

I don't think the Keighley lobby was serious

The walking route could certainly be improved - especially now the Hall Ings car park is coming down - and the LA have plans for further pedestrianisation through the city centre.

I might use the Stanningley Bypass for the M1 South if the M62 was worse than usual, but not Leeds. It's different from Wharfedale though, or from Skipton and further up.

Agree - mostly.

I'm not convinced. Largely because I think 95% of people are put off by having to change trains even without luggage

 

[Snow1964]

Info released today, source is comments by rail Minister

Merriman said proposals for a new station in Bradford would be announced next week, when the Department for Transport responds to select committee criticisms of its integrated rail plan. The plan, announced in 2021, outraged northern leaders by missing out the city in downgraded high-speed connections.

So something is planned for Bradford, even if details currently under wraps

 

[SuspectUsual]

Info released today, source is comments by rail Minister

Merriman said proposals for a new station in Bradford would be announced next week, when the Department for Transport responds to select committee criticisms of its integrated rail plan. The plan, announced in 2021, outraged northern leaders by missing out the city in downgraded high-speed connections.

So something is planned for Bradford, even if details currently under wraps

DfT staff now frantically searching for their box of crayons

 

[61653 HTAFC]

As I've said multiple times in this and other threads, I'm not sure what "problem" linking the stations in Bradford would solve.

If Bradford Interchange was a through station with no reversals required, nobody would think that linking it and Forster Square was a priority.

 

[WAO]

Leaving the Bradford Crossrail bait unnibbled, where do posters imagine the new station would be sited?

Adolphus Street?

 

[30907]

Leaving the Bradford Crossrail bait unnibbled, where do posters imagine the new station would be sited?

Adolphus Street?

That was effectively the proposal.

 

[stevieinselby]

As I've said multiple times in this and other threads, I'm not sure what "problem" linking the stations in Bradford would solve.

If Bradford Interchange was a through station with no reversals required, nobody would think that linking it and Forster Square was a priority.

Connectivity between north and south. For a journey from Airedale/Wharfedale to Manchester, it is slightly quicker to go via Bradford than Leeds ... but if you're going to other stations on the Calder Valley line then it becomes a good 15 minutes quicker. But that involves a walk across Bradford, which is far from ideal and will certainly put some people off. If trains from the north and trains from the south all called at the same station then you could cut about 15 minutes off those journeys, saving significant time and increasing the attractiveness of the journey to passengers.

 

[Ken H]

Connectivity between north and south. For a journey from Airedale/Wharfedale to Manchester, it is slightly quicker to go via Bradford than Leeds ... but if you're going to other stations on the Calder Valley line then it becomes a good 15 minutes quicker. But that involves a walk across Bradford, which is far from ideal and will certainly put some people off. If trains from the north and trains from the south all called at the same station then you could cut about 15 minutes off those journeys, saving significant time and increasing the attractiveness of the journey to passengers.

What passengers? Is there a supressed demand for Bingley - Sowerby Bridge journeys?
For most flows its best to travel via Leeds. And there is a network of buses to fill the gaps
662 shuttle goes from Keighley to Bradford interchange every 10 minutes and penetrates aire valley settlements (Riddlesden) better than the train.
There are buses from Keighley to Halifax and Hebden Bridge giving access to Calder Valley bus and train services, and from Keighley & Skipton to Burnley where there are buses and trains to the Calder Valley, and towards Manchester.

 

[Bald Rick]

Connectivity between north and south. For a journey from Airedale/Wharfedale to Manchester, it is slightly quicker to go via Bradford than Leeds ... but if you're going to other stations on the Calder Valley line then it becomes a good 15 minutes quicker. But that involves a walk across Bradford, which is far from ideal and will certainly put some people off. If trains from the north and trains from the south all called at the same station then you could cut about 15 minutes off those journeys, saving significant time and increasing the attractiveness of the journey to passengers.

As has been said multiple times, it’s not a particularly big flow, and does enabling it justify the construction cost of a significant fraction of a billion pounds?

 

[Neptune]

As has been said multiple times, it’s not a particularly big flow, and does enabling it justify the construction cost of a significant fraction of a billion pounds?

It’s like the wound that will never heal isn’t it.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The money would be much better spent on re-opening the Spen Valley line, both to give Bradford direct access to London and also to help the woollen towns, but that will never happen either.

 

[WAO]

Perhaps the "new" Adolphus Street station might include the reinstatement of the grand Palladian frontage of the previous incarnation!

See: http://disused-stations.org.uk/b/bradford_adolphus_street/index.shtml

WAO