Leeds New Line......what if?

[Rob F]

Let us imagine for a moment that the Leeds New Line had never closed. I know it is not coming back and I am not suggesting it should, but if it had survived would it be useful?

If the viaduct line had remained connected to the LNW line rather than the GNR, TPE services could use the high numbered platforms at Leeds and reduce the congestion at the west end, then use the flying junction onto the New Line and proceed towards Huddersfield.

Would this make a big difference to the situation west of Leeds and how would journey times compare on the New Line compared to via Morley?

 

[Bevan Price]

Let us imagine for a moment that the Leeds New Line had never closed. I know it is not coming back and I am not suggesting it should, but if it had survived would it be useful?

If the viaduct line had remained connected to the LNW line rather than the GNR, TPE services could use the high numbered platforms at Leeds and reduce the congestion at the west end, then use the flying junction onto the New Line and proceed towards Huddersfield.

Would this make a big difference to the situation west of Leeds and how would journey times compare on the New Line compared to via Morley?

It could have been very useful. Express services would not have interacted with the local services between Huddersfield, Dewsbury & Leeds (apart from a short section at the Huddersfield end to Spen Valley Jn.). Journey times would probably not be much different to current times - maybe by a minute or so maximum.

Few of the "New Line" intermediate stations were well-sited for the places they supposedly served, so retaining / reopening them for a local service would have been a waste of time --- the ex L&YR Spen Valley line was the better option for places like Heckmondwike & Cleckheaton.

 

[Revaulx]

Despite it being the route used for the fastest trains (because it avoided all the congested bits) I don’t think it was suitable for particularly high speeds due to severe gradients and some tight curves. Not a lot could be done about the latter, but the former wouldn’t be a problem for modern stock.

The fact that the widening and grade separation now being planned around Mirfield is basically a scaled down reinvention of the New Line shows what a loss the original has been.

 

[30907]

If the viaduct line had remained connected to the LNW line rather than the GNR, TPE services could use the high numbered platforms at Leeds and reduce the congestion at the west end, then use the flying junction onto the New Line and proceed towards Huddersfield.

Just a little detail: you could have retained the viaduct route without the New Line. Whether that would have made for better station working than the present setup I don't know (bearing in mind that P16/17 were built on the site of goods lines).

 

[Rob F]

Just a little detail: you could have retained the viaduct route without the New Line. Whether that would have made for better station working than the present setup I don't know (bearing in mind that P16/17 were built on the site of goods lines).

You are, of course correct, but I had assumed that the full benefit of a surviving New Line would only be realised by using the viaduct line as well.

Maybe the viaduct line was the bigger loss?

 

[Spartacus]

It was never a fast route so I doubt it would be used for any expresses apart from during engineering and associated route retention services, and there’s the route via Healy Mills for those. I expect it would be quite useful for local services as most of the original stations, while ‘out in the sticks’ when it was built are now quite urban. I think the only exception is Gildersome, though at the other end of the tunnel now is the Junction 27 development. Trouble is nobody was going to keep it open waiting for housing and a retail park to be built, while it’s main function was as a diversionary route that was already duplicated.

Ironically it could actually have created more problems than it solved, with extra services required to run into and out of Leeds and Huddersfield.

 

[Aictos]

Is this the viaduct that’s to the Wakefield end of Leeds station that doesn’t have any track and last time I was there in 2014 was heavily overgrown with weeds?

 

[Rob F]

Is this the viaduct that’s to the Wakefield end of Leeds station that doesn’t have any track and last time I was there in 2014 was heavily overgrown with weeds?

That's the one.

 

[Aictos]

That's the one.

Thank you, so judging by the above comments there’s little to no benefits of being it being reinstated?

 

[ainsworth74]

Not knowing anything about this line I did a bit of googling and found this very interesting website with quite a lot of detail about it. Looks like it was quite circuitous and might well be quite a useful line for commuters these days looking roughly at it's location! Though it has been massively built over in quite large stretches so well beyond any possible re-opening.

It's shame the final few hundred meters of the viaduct have been completely re-developed as otherwise it would be a fairly simple (comparatively, I'm sure a considerable amount of reconditioning would be required) to reinstate the viaduct and get TPE well out of the way of Leeds station throat very quickly.

 

[Spartacus]

Not knowing anything about this line I did a bit of googling and found this very interesting website with quite a lot of detail about it. Looks like it was quite circuitous and might well be quite a useful line for commuters these days looking roughly at it's location! Though it has been massively built over in quite large stretches so well beyond any possible re-opening.

It's shame the final few hundred meters of the viaduct have been completely re-developed as otherwise it would be a fairly simple (comparatively, I'm sure a considerable amount of reconditioning would be required) to reinstate the viaduct and get TPE well out of the way of Leeds station throat very quickly.

Trouble is that it comes in at Leeds West end, where capacity is at it's tightest, so doesn't offer any real advantages, especially now there's little freight crossing Whitehall Jn.