Wortley curve regularly comes up with one of those axe to grind positions because BR appears to have not followed the correct closure process for it in the mid eighties.
As the rail network stands, restoration of the curve is not the greatest idea. Both of the lines are relatively busy and they join the same pair of tracks into Leeds station. Creating a move that in the case of Bradford to south would block out this entire pair of tracks for 4-5 minutes seems to be a really silly thing to do.
How has the line been abandoned at all if the correct closure process was not followed? If this was not done legally then surely reinstatement is compulsory? I note that it was extant in the representation of the area in the mid 80s found on Train Sim World.
I have actually been on a train that made an awkward reversing move where the two lines converge, blocking both while the driver changed ends to continue from Bradford to Wakefield, when it would otherwise have used the curve without stopping. Surely that would have been a better option.
There’s already an operable curve that avoids Leeds station on the Wakefield-Bradford routes, and it barely sees any use…
That is the Leeds avoiding line of the Midland, which was intended for non-stop trains from St Pancras to reach the Settle - Carlisle, while fouling the Leeds station throat, whether capacity exists to do so or not.
This is the Leeds avoiding line of the GNR, which is intended for trains from Bradford (Exchange/Interchange) and New Pudsey to use to reach Outwood, Wakefield Westgate and then onto other destinations such as Doncaster, Peterborough and Kings Cross, but perhaps other local stations for example towards Knottingley.
Are we going to argue which of these propositions is more sensible?
And it makes zero sense to avoid Leeds; the main source of passenger demand and connections in West Yorkshire.
But Leeds station is already at capacity, that is it is not possible to accommodate any more trains at Leeds and if additional connectivity is desired, either locally between Bradford and Wakefield, or between Bradford and Kings Cross, it cannot be provided either by reversing additional trains, or expecting additional passengers to change at Leeds onto unreliable, or already crowded connections.
As we know Leeds is such a massive traffic draw, effort should be taken to encourage non-Leeds passengers not to change at Leeds, by providing new Leeds-avoiding trains, as has been done recently with the reinstatement of through running between Castleford and York, so as not to contribute to overcrowding either on trains to Leeds, or at Leeds station itself and afford themselves a more comfortable journey.
I recall that in early Deltic days there was a morning express from Bradford to KX serving New Pudsey and Westgate via the Wortley Curve, with a separate train non stop from Leeds and running through the centre tracks at Westgate. A faster service for all concerned. Perhaps if traffic did grow in future this might be attractive. Perhaps in such a case people might be posting on this forum in 25 years their astonishment that a potentially useful bit of infrastructure was virtually given away for such a trivial sum
Exactly. Who’s to say that (especially without HS2) an ECML service from Leeds couldn’t be filled with calls at Leeds and Doncaster only, leaving no capacity for passengers for Wakefield, or connecting for Bradford? In this case, a separate train starting from Bradford and calling at New Pudsey, Wakefield Westgate and perhaps another station such as Outwood, Pontefract Monkhill or Knottingley wouldn’t load well by Doncaster?
These expresses could then be supplemented by an all day service providing local connectivity between Bradford and Wakefield avoiding Leeds, in the same way as the new service already connects Huddersfield, Wakefield and York avoiding Leeds. You could perhaps extend the Huddersfield - Bradford services to Wakefield, Knottingley or Doncaster via the curve.
*IF* we were gonna do it as a forum collective of some kind then I agree, absolutely we wouldn't do it in our own names - would have to do as some kind of limited liability thing.
No one else appears to be drunk enough to join though (and I have to sober up from tomorrow as will be back at work) so I think it isn't happening - not long left to incorporate everything etc...
I wouldn’t actually mind having a stake in the ownership in order to veto development on the trackbed, although not sole ownership.
I don’t see it being particularly useful for non-railway use with where it is, but the most northerly section bounded by the line to Bradford could easily be filled with a few houses (which could easily be located elsewhere, on non-railway land) rendering the entire formation unusable.
If it is not to be reinstated, would expansion of the park be possible? I have seen examples of green spaces absorbing adjacent sections of railway land. Also, if it is found that the line was closed unlawfully, what would that mean for any development that may have been built on the trackbed?
www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
