Spen Valley Line

Spen Valley Line
Remains of a railway bridge over Mirfield Cut
Overview
Other name(s)	Mirfield and Low Moor railway
Owner	Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway London & North Western Railway London Midland and Scottish Railway British Railways
Termini	Low Moor Mirfield Thornhill
History
Opened	18 July 1848 (1848-07-18) (Mirfield to Low Moor) 1 June 1869 (1869-06-01) (Heckmondwike to Thornhill)
Technical
Line length	7 miles (11 km) (Mirfield to Low Moor) 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) (Heckmondwike to Thornhill) 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) (Thornhill to Low Moor)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map to Bradford Interchange to Dudley Hill Low Moor Calder Valley Line Oakenshaw Tunnel  M62  Cleckheaton Central Knowler Hill Tunnel Liversedge Heckmondwike Leeds New Line 1966 connection Northorpe North Road Ravensthorpe Lower to Batley Ravensthorpe to Wakefield Kirkgate Thornhill Mirfield to Huddersfield to Halifax and Calder Valley Line

The Spen Valley Line (also known as the Mirfield and Low Moor railway)^[1] was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area (known as the Heavy Woollen District (HWD)) and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (on grouping) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.