Kirkburton branch

Kirkburton branch
Railway bridge over the Huddersfield Broad Canal at the northern end of the line
Overview
Status	Closed
Locale	Kirkburton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Stations	4
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	LNWR (1867–1923) LMS (1923–1948) BR (1948–1965/1971)
History
Opened	7 October 1867 (1867-10-07) (passengers) 1 January 1868 (1868-01-01) (goods)
Closed	28 July 1930 (passengers) 1971 (goods)[1]
Technical
Line length	6 mi (9.7 km)
Track length	4.25 mi (6.84 km)
Number of tracks	1 (Provision for two)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	40 mph (64 km/h)

v t e Kirkburton branch
Legend
Deighton (1982–) To Heaton Lodge Junction To Huddersfield Deighton (1871–1930) Whitacre Viaduct Dye works Goods yard Kirkheaton Tandem goods yard Up direction Down direction Brickworks Lodge Mill Colliery tramway Fenay Bridge and Lepton Goods yard Victoria Colliery Tramway Rowley Viaduct Kirkburton Goods yard

The Kirkburton branch was a railway branch in West Yorkshire, England. The line was built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in the 1860s, the only LNWR branch line in the Huddersfield area, although originally, the intention had been to link Kirkburton with Clayton West and through to Barnsley, but this never came to fruition. The line opened to traffic in 1867, and was closed to passengers in 1930. Freight carried on using the branch until 1965. A second railway station for Deighton was opened in 1982 on the main running line between Huddersfield and Mirfield. The removal of passenger services along the branch was down to low passenger numbers; the railway ran along the valley floor and most of the populated areas were high up on the valley sides.