Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway
The BW&LR later built a branch line from near Wakefield to Batley, opening in stages to 1863.
His business methods were tough and effective, but they were also underhand and dishonest, and eventually he was found out and disgraced.
The Great Northern Railway promoters had wanted branches to Sheffield and Leeds, but these were cut out of the authorisation in Parliament.
GNR trains making that journey finally reached the station by reversing over a short length of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway.
Although the LB&HJR was independent, the beginnings of a Great Northern Railway network in West Yorkshire were visible.
[4][5] It was to be built from the Wakefield station of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, via Ardsley, to Wortley Junction on the LB&HJR, near Leeds.
This was a very considerable advantage for the GNR, and from 12 November 1857 the company transferred most of its long-distance trains on to the route.
[7] From November 1857 the GNR complained about poor permanent way conditions between Wakefield and Leeds, and threatened to transfer its traffic back to the Methley route of the Midland Railway.
In October the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway gave notice that from 1 January 1858 it would appoint its own station staff.
The GNR abruptly withdrew its engines and coal wagons, in effect ceasing to work the line.
In 1859 there was a proposal that the Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway and the BW&LR should amalgamate, but the idea came to nothing.
Soon after it was extended to a station named "Ossett", in fact at Flushdyke, opening on 7 April 1862, but minerals had been carried between Roundwood Colliery sidings and Wrenthorpe since 6 January.
It was a single line, 65 chains long, and there was a viaduct with three brick arches of 30 feet span.
A new platform at a higher level was provided at Flushdyke, although to reach it passengers had to cross the rails of the earlier line.
of 21 July 1863, giving running powers over the North Eastern Railway from Methley to Castleford.
In the face of strenuous L&YR opposition, the West Yorkshire Railway (former BW&LR) as well as the LB&HJR passed into GNR possession.
[17] A collapse in the financial markets caused the GNR to defer proceeding to Batley, and the parliamentary powers to do so lapsed; they were authorised once again by an act of Parliament[which?]
The new double-track line was 1 mile 74 chains (1.93 miles, 3.10 km) in length, from a new Dewsbury junction on the Ossett-Dewsbury line, leaving the temporary Dewsbury terminus station at the end of a 31 chains (620 m) branch, thereafter used only for goods and minerals.
[21] In the 1980s a major project of electrification was implemented on the East Coast Main Line and associated routes.
