The section between Leeds and Harrogate is still extant, but its trains now serve a former branch line to York instead of continuing through Ripon to Northallerton.

The line north of Harrogate was closed a few years after the publication of Richard Beeching's The Reshaping of British Railways report.

In 2005, North Yorkshire County Council commissioned Ove Arup to undertake a feasibility study into the possibility of reopening the closed stretch of line between Harrogate and Ripon.

[2] Reports suggest the reopening of a line between Ripon and Harrogate railway station would be economically viable, costing £40 million and could initially attract 1,200 passengers a day, rising to 2,700.

[8] In 2019, the English Regional Transport Association proposed a re-opened railway between Harrogate and Northallerton would cost £40 million and attract 2,700 passengers per day.