• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Leeds Station Improvement

AndyHudds

Member
Joined
17 Jun 2012
Messages
530
It’s back to the future isn’t it, with the barriers moved to the same place where the old manual barriers used to be (although extended) and the departure boards back immediately above, just like they were in the 90s

I'm glad the barriers are moving because it gets pretty chaotic behind the gate line with everyone cutting across the back of it getting in people's way coming through the gates, it's a right nightmare.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

BantamMenace

Member
Joined
2 Dec 2013
Messages
563
I also can't quite work out if WHSmith look to have cheekily agreed to this in exchange for part of their store entrance to be available platform side of the barriers!

I doubt it otherwise through WHSmith would be a bypass to the gateline
 

edwin_m

Veteran Member
Joined
21 Apr 2013
Messages
24,793
Location
Nottingham
Unless they divide it like the Costa at Wakefield... :idea:;)
It's easy enough to have a coffee shop with the same staff working two counters, but if it was WHS they would have to duplicate all their racks of items for sale on either side of the barrier.
 

thejuggler

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2016
Messages
1,186
What Leeds needs is another station just to the east of the city centre at which could be built on the site of Marsh Lane as a three or four platformed station that could be called Leeds East, Leeds Saxon Gardens or Leeds South Bank. This way services that head west out of City e.g Southport, Knottingley/Goole and Sheffield for instance could start there instead of Leeds City.

At least one Councillor is suggesting Leeds Marsh Lane is reopened to cater for residents of 1,000+ new homes to be built on former sidings land.

Sensible, but doable?
 

Spartacus

Established Member
Joined
25 Aug 2009
Messages
2,907
The east end of Leeds could do without something else causing congestion and slowing services down.

The councillor quoted seems to think Marsh Lane is as inside Leeds City Centre as Oxford Road is to Manchester, but it's far from it. She mentions the John Lewis development, but that's as close to Leeds City station as it is to Marsh Lane, and it's a far easier walk, being on mostly pedestrianised streets to City station, and Leeds City station is still only a mile from the new development, an average 20 minute walk for most. She brings up Bradford for some reason too, when the closest station to either of Bradford's is twice the distance that Marsh Lane is to City.

There might be some argument for it if the station could be on a loop similar to the through lines at Oxford Road, but I don;t think that was ever the case, so making it so would be rather more expensive that it would otherwise be.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...eds-other-city-centre-train-station-1-9682352

Calls to reopen Leeds' other city centre train station Marsh lane in Leeds. Pic by Mtaylor848 RICHARD BEECHAM Email Published: 18:28 Saturday 30 March 2019 A Leeds councillor has called for housing developers to reopen one of the city centre’s lost railway stations. The comments came during a council plans panel discussion on early blueprints for a complex of more than 1,000 flats off Marsh Lane. Coun Elizabeth Nash (Lab) told the meeting that the redevelopment could provide a possibility to reopen Marsh Lane Rail Station, which closed more than 60 years ago. Coun Nash told the meeting: “It has always been a hope of mine to re-open Marsh Lane station. And the city centre has moved eastwards. “We have John Lewis and other developments out there, but Network Rail will not do anything unless they are pushed to do it. “Leeds has lost most of its suburban stations, but places like Bradford and Manchester have kept theirs. You go to Manchester Piccadilly and the first stop is Manchester Oxford Road. “It would be a crying shame if this opportunity was not there. It is not the responsibility of the developers but it would be good to know what you can do.” Developers have submitted a pre-application for five blocks of flats in the former Network Rail goods yard off Marsh Lane, comprising a total of 1,032 residential apartments. Applicants Rushbond Plc and Gold & Amber also hope to include a co-working space, along with car parking and a landscape scheme for the site. The old Marsh Lane Railway Station was first built in 1840, before being closed in 1850 to accommodate new railway construction. It was then redeveloped and reopened as a goods station in 1863. In 1869, a new link rail line to the Leeds New Station was built, and a passenger station was added to the site. Marsh Lane was closed for the final time in 1958. A full outline application is expected to be submitted in the coming months.

Read more at: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...eds-other-city-centre-train-station-1-9682352
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,624
Location
Another planet...
At least one Councillor is suggesting Leeds Marsh Lane is reopened to cater for residents of 1,000+ new homes to be built on former sidings land.

Sensible, but doable?
Sensible* and doable, with caveats...

The two track railway heading North/East out of Leeds is congested as it is, so any additional stops will cause issues. Beyond the viaduct the trackbed has room for 4 tracks but the viaduct itself would be difficult and expensive- though possible. A bit like Castlefield... oh, wait. :rolleyes:

*= sensible in the sense that a station somewhere along that stretch would do well numbers-wise provided the infrastructure was up to scratch. Whether the specific site mentioned is a good idea is another matter.
 

billio

Member
Joined
9 Feb 2012
Messages
496
I think there would be sufficient room for four tracks and platforms between York Street and Brussels Street, particularly if the station utilised some of the arches of the viaduct. Depending on the length of platforms the station may have to extend over the A61/653 into the Marsh Lane site.
The buildings in York Street and the use of land next to Brussels Street are of no particular value.
A station here would be close to the Marsh lane development, the bus station and new developments between Eastgate and Quarry Hill,YorkStreetStation.png
 

AndyHudds

Member
Joined
17 Jun 2012
Messages
530
Does Leeds need a terminating station from the East? Given that Leeds main station only has two terminating east facing platforms, is there a need for a new station at Marsh Lane? What services would terminate here?There is nowhere to catch bus on Marsh Lane,it's a fair walk in to Leeds City Centre, I see no real value in this.
 

Sceptre

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2009
Messages
187
Location
Leeds
Yeah, the centre of gravity of the town centre hasn't appreciably moved in the ten years I've lived in Leeds. If anything, it's moved westwards, with redevelopment around the station, the opening of Trinity and the poshification of the Victoria Gate area.

With that said, reopening Marsh Lane would be a good idea if aimed towards NHS services, especially if reopening Cas–Garforth was ever mooted at the same time.
 

Spartacus

Established Member
Joined
25 Aug 2009
Messages
2,907
You'd struggle to fit a station into that space with two extra tracks with modern standards. Any station with loops would also need to be a good deal longer than the station itself when allowing for signals and pointwork. Perhaps the only option I can see would be to use the old site east of Marsh Lane with the Up main becoming the Up Loop, Down Main becoming the Up Main and the down lines on new formation. That'd need reassessment of the lines all the way back to Neville Hill though. Anything like that's going to eat into the new station site, and therefore development too, and I'm assuming the councillor isn't concerning herself with car parking or just plans on paving over the park?

To me any terminators is an even worse idea, everything coming in from the East would conflict with everything on the down, and most people wouldn't want to terminate there.

I wouldn't be surprised if this councillor is keen on promoting these flats but realises they're in a rubbish location. Whichever way you look at it you'd be spending millions on a new station, viaduct, signalling, trackwork, feeder point (because that would be in the way even without extra tracks), to serve a pretty small number of people.

We're getting near close to Speculative Ideas here now I think......
 

johntea

Established Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
2,585
McDonalds in the station also needs to relocate the self service things to reduce bottlenecks, it isn't fun trying to queue particularly on Friday/Saturday evening with all the drunks!
 

Bantamzen

Established Member
Joined
4 Dec 2013
Messages
9,669
Location
Baildon, West Yorkshire
The east end of Leeds could do without something else causing congestion and slowing services down.

The councillor quoted seems to think Marsh Lane is as inside Leeds City Centre as Oxford Road is to Manchester, but it's far from it. She mentions the John Lewis development, but that's as close to Leeds City station as it is to Marsh Lane, and it's a far easier walk, being on mostly pedestrianised streets to City station, and Leeds City station is still only a mile from the new development, an average 20 minute walk for most. She brings up Bradford for some reason too, when the closest station to either of Bradford's is twice the distance that Marsh Lane is to City.

There might be some argument for it if the station could be on a loop similar to the through lines at Oxford Road, but I don;t think that was ever the case, so making it so would be rather more expensive that it would otherwise be.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...eds-other-city-centre-train-station-1-9682352

As much as I'd love to see a station at this end of Leeds (it would save me about 30 minutes walking each day), it probably wouldn't have the demand needed to make a case & as rightly said it would just cause more congestion & delays at what is already a very busy section. What Leeds really needs is some kind of, oh I don't know, light rail solution that could serve the various parts of Leeds centre & its many untracked suburbs. But that's a whole different can of worms.... :D
 

Halifaxlad

Established Member
Joined
5 Apr 2018
Messages
1,366
Location
The White Rose County
I certainly wouldn't build a new station at Marsh Lane for the reasons outlined above, but I think a new station opposite St James's could be useful.
 

AndyHudds

Member
Joined
17 Jun 2012
Messages
530
I certainly wouldn't build a new station at Marsh Lane for the reasons outlined above, but I think a new station opposite St James's could be useful.

I work at St James' and the nearest railway is on Marsh Lane, where would this new station go? Have you got your geography a little skew wiff as there are certainly no tracks near St Jimbo's.
 

modernrail

Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,019
I had a look at this a while ago and I recall seeing a report saying that there was a desire to 4 track from Leeds station to Quarry Hill and beyond. When you look in detail at the buildings either side of the this run it is not actually as problematic as you first think when you travel through on the train where if all feels very tight.

I have considered whether there is space to put a station opposite the Parish Church if you did this and I think I concluded maybe (especially a cantilever structure for the platforms) and that is a more useful location than Marsh Lane.

All in all this is clearly a big piece if work though - whether it justifies itself as a stand-alone or as part of HS2/NPR is what remains to be seen. I certainly would not 4 track to achieve a station. You would definitely be better off putting a ground level rapid transport solution in place. I have seen an impressive 'virtual tram' concept that could be perfect for Leeds, from CRRC. Detractors will say it is a glorified bus but I disagree. It charges on supercapacitors, capable of 20km runs on one charge, charges in 4 minutes. A lot of the objection to buses is the fact that they have terrible ride. GPS based virtual tracks with smoothing out of certain accelerating and decelerating features might reduce this to much more acceptable levels. Might be a good option for Leeds as could be deployed super quick and at a fraction of the cost of traditional trams which I prefer, but Leeds has been there and the British Government decided it wasn't getting it even though it passed the economic tests.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
What they really need to do is reconfigure the booking office and travel centre into one unit. It's a joke that a hub the size of Leeds can only sell a vast range of tickets between 9:00 and 18:00.
 

modernrail

Member
Joined
26 Jul 2015
Messages
1,019
What they really need to do is reconfigure the booking office and travel centre into one unit. It's a joke that a hub the size of Leeds can only sell a vast range of tickets between 9:00 and 18:00.
Fully Agree. Should have been done years ago.
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,624
Location
Another planet...
Am I correct in thinking it was formerly 24/7? Birmingham New St and Wolves (and Holyhead!) have all been descoped from that in recent years so it wouldn't be surprising.
The station concourse used to stay open all night with a skeleton staff. Always handy after gigs to be able to get a coffee in one of the nearby places and wait for the first morning train home. Unfortunately the anti-social behaviour of a minority put that to an end.
 

Glenn1969

Established Member
Joined
22 Jan 2019
Messages
1,983
Location
Halifax, Yorks
You would have thought it would still be open all night with the late Airport to York trains and the 0236 arrival from London
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,624
Location
Another planet...
You would have thought it would still be open all night with the late Airport to York trains and the 0236 arrival from London
When I used the 0236 arrival in October 2017 we were hurriedly shepherded through the deserted concourse to the taxi rank by Wetherspoon's. If anywhere had been open they'd have had decent trade...
 

greyman42

Established Member
Joined
14 Aug 2017
Messages
4,894
When I used the 0236 arrival in October 2017 we were hurriedly shepherded through the deserted concourse to the taxi rank by Wetherspoon's. If anywhere had been open they'd have had decent trade...
I was on Leeds station, perhaps 18 months ago, and the Boots store was open at around 0100.
 

johntea

Established Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
2,585
I think Wetherspoons applied for 24 hours once but got turned down

The latest outlet open I believe is McDonalds on a Friday/Saturday night, open until 02:00
 

skyhigh

Established Member
Joined
14 Sep 2014
Messages
5,219
The concourse is open 24 hours, although access to the platforms is restricted overnight. I thought the ticket office was also 24 hours so this appears a bit of a reduction to me...
 

lincolnshire

Member
Joined
12 Jun 2011
Messages
884
Have you looked up on Leeds station and seen just how dirty it is? That is supposed to be wire mesh on the signal you can just see through it in places time it was all cleaned up.IMG_20190216_153027.jpg
 

Cuboid

Member
Joined
9 Jan 2019
Messages
32
I seem to remember on a different forum that they did start cleaning part of the roof a few years ago (think it was in time for the TdF Grand Depart) but they only did around P5-8 in the gateline/concourse area.

Really needs a good scrubbing on the roof/metal work/signals & on the tracks to pick up litter.
 

Top