Methley Joint Railway

[1] Although worked by the GNR, the company took the initiative in seeking extensions to its network, and in the 1863 session of Parliament the BW&LR sought powers for a branch from Lofthouse to Methley and another to Low Moor, and to change its name to the West Yorkshire Railway.

In addition, sidings were provided at Lofthouse Alum Works, and at several collieries; the line was double track.

[8][9][10] Platforms were provided at Methley on the fork to Lofthouse Junction (L&YR), but no regular passenger service appears to have used them.

This was confirmed by an Act of 5 July, and the one third share of the Methley Joint line passed to the GNR from 5 September 1865.

[11][3] The GNR soon obtaining running powers over the NER as far as Milford junction, and started a goods service to that point from Bradford on 8 June 1866.

An even shorter-lived experiment was a through GNR service from Bradford to York via the Methley Joint Line, which was operated only in the summers of 1876 and 1877.

At its eastern end the MJR crossed the floodplain of the River Calder, and inundation of the tracks was a perpetual hazard; in 1892 it was recommended that the line be lifted by as much as four feet for a length of 500 yards.

[5][12] By an agreement of 20 October 1870, the GNR was allowed 33% of gross receipts for working the Methley Joint passenger service, altered on 1 January 1885 to 1s per mile for "all trains necessary to the branch".

[2] The station and curve carried a service of six trains each way on weekdays and two on Sundays between Wakefield (Kirkgate) and Milford Junction via Methley.

[16] The western end of the line from Lofthouse junctions to Newmarket (Silkstone) Colliery was closed completely from 5 April 1965; the colliery traffic was accessible to and from the Methley end only; the connection at Methley to the L&YR was closed from 27 March 1967, leaving only the route to the former NER line.