| Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line | |
|---|---|
 The former GNR Shipley and Windhill Station viewed looking south east from the present Shipley railway station (former Midland railway owned) | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Closed |
| Owner | Great Northern Railway |
| Locale | West Yorkshire |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 4 |
| Service | |
| Type | Branch |
| Operator(s) | Great Northern Railway |
| History | |
| Opened | 1874/1875 |
| Closed | 1931/1964/1968 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 6.5 miles |
| Number of tracks | 1 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
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The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was a railway line that ran east, south and then westwards from Shipley to Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The route was opened in 1874 to goods traffic and then to passengers in 1875 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and looped around the eastern edge of Bradford. The GNR arrived after other railways had been established in the West Yorkshire area and many of their lines were heavily reliant on tunnels and grand viaducts, the Shipley and Windhill line being an exception to this, although it did have some steep gradients. The branch extended for 8.5 miles (13.7 km) between the two terminuses of Shipley Windhill and Bradford Exchange. The route as built from Laisterdyke to Shipley was actually only 6.5 miles (10.5 km)[1] as the initial section from Bradford Exchange to Laisterdyke was already in existence as part of the Great Northern Railway's line to Leeds.
The Midland Railway Company offered a shorter route between Shipley and Bradford (Forster Square) due southwards via Bradford Dale on the valley floor at a distance of only 2.5 miles (4 km).[2][note 1] The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was amalgamated into the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923 and became part of the North Eastern Region of British Rail in 1948.
- ^ Grinling, Charles (1898). "XVIII The Zenith of Prosperity". The History of the Great Northern Railway 1845 - 1895. London: Methuen & Co. p. 299. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ^ Jacobs, Gerald (2006). Railway Track Diagrams - Eastern (3 ed.). Bradford-On-Avon: Trackmaps. p. 43. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.
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