Their schemes and the companies themselves were taken up by the Great Northern Railway, which built a line looping through the villages to the north-east of Bradford: from Laisterdyke, through Eccleshill, Idle and Thackley to Shipley.

It was built to the same distinctive pattern as other stations on the line, with a short mitre-roofed tower in the centre.

The railway line is featured in Simon Ormondroyd's Windhill Tales, based on life in the area in 1964.

[4] The station building survives: in 2005 it is occupied by several local businesses.

However, proposals put forward in 2016 are for the building to be demolished to make way for apartments.