Brighouse railway station

Brighouse
Platform 1
Location
Place	Brighouse
Local authority	Calderdale
Coordinates
Grid reference	SE146224
Operations
Station code	BGH
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.064 million
2005/06	0.072 million
2006/07	0.087 million
2007/08	0.089 million
2008/09	0.147 million
2009/10	0.180 million
2010/11	0.223 million
2011/12	0.267 million
2012/13	0.349 million
2013/14	0.372 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone	4
History
Original company	Manchester and Leeds Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1840	opened
1970	closed
2000	reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Brighouse from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

The station in 1961

Brighouse railway station serves the town of Brighouse in West Yorkshire, England. The station lies on the Caldervale Line and the Huddersfield Line running west from Leeds. The station reopened in 2000 and is managed by Northern Rail but is also served by Grand Central.

History

Brighouse railway station was first opened on 5 October 1840, as a main line station operated by the Manchester and Leeds Railway. The station was initially known as Brighouse for Bradford, as no stations had yet been built in Bradford itself. Similarly, Elland station served Halifax, and Huddersfield was served by the station at Cooper Bridge.

A lithograph was produced by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait showing the station in 1845.

In 1847 Brighouse station came under the operation of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as the M&L was incorporated into this company. The station remained under L&Y operation until it itself was incorporated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, throughout which period the station's importance gradually declined as other lines connecting Manchester and Leeds were built via Halifax and Huddersfield bypassing Brighouse.

Brighouse station passed into British Railways ownership upon nationalisation in 1949, and was operated as part of the North Eastern Region. The decline in passenger numbers continued, and the station was eventually closed by British Rail on 5 January 1970, remaining closed for thirty years although the line remained open throughout this time as a freight-only line but it was also used as a diversionary route for passenger trains when other lines were closed.

Brighouse's station re-opened on Sunday 28 May 2000. Brighouse also serves the town of Elland some 2 miles (3.2 km) away. Plans for a station in Elland to open at the same time as Brighouse were cancelled due to lack of funds.

Since 27 April 2008 bus service MC4 has provided a connection with most Leeds via Dewsbury trains to/from Elland. This was replaced in early 2010 by a revised service E8

Services

Northern Rail

Brighouse is served by Caldervale Line trains, with one train every hour running to Leeds via Halifax and Bradford, and one train every hour in the other direction to Huddersfield.

Since December 2008, the station is also served by an hourly Leeds - Dewsbury - Hebden Bridge - Manchester Victoria stopping service (Monday - Saturday daytime). This provides a considerable service improvement providing both a twice-hourly frequency for journeys to/from Leeds and a reduction in journey time taking only 35 minutes to travel to Leeds via Dewsbury rather than 50 minutes via Halifax. Even without this important improvement in services, usage of the station has increased year on year since the re-opening. Some services from Leeds additionally terminate at Brighouse and vice versa.

The station has two platforms.

• Platform 1: served by services towards Huddersfield and Leeds (via Dewsbury).
• Platform 2: served by services towards Manchester Victoria, and Leeds (via Halifax and Bradford Interchange).

Grand Central - West Riding

The station now sees four direct return services per day to London Kings Cross via Doncaster, which commenced on 23 May 2010. In January 2009, Grand Central Railway had their application for train paths to run a Bradford Interchange (via Halifax) to London service accepted by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Customer Information System

Northern Rail and Metro secured joint funding from the Department for Transport's Access for All – Small Schemes initiative to provide a new Customer Information System at the station.

New LCD style customer information screens with real-time information have been installed on both platforms linked into an improved public address system providing accurate, reliable audio/visual train running information to passengers.

In addition; Northern Rail has announced plans to replace the station's HelpPoint intercom system with a more updated reliable model. This will enable passengers to speak to a member of staff in Northern's control centre for information or to summon assistance in emergency situations.

Station panorama

Panorama of Brighouse station in February 2009

External links

• Train times and station information for Brighouse railway station from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Huddersfield		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Halifax
				Sowerby Bridge
Halifax		Northern Rail Huddersfield Line		Mirfield
Halifax		Northern Rail Leeds-Brighouse		Terminus
Mirfield		Grand Central West Riding		Halifax
Disused railways
Elland		L&YR		Cooper Bridge
				Bradley West Yorkshire

Calderdale Lines (Past, present and future)

Legend ( To Bradford ) ( To Bradford ) Queensbury Holmfield Bailiff Bridge Lightcliffe / Clifton Road Wheatley ( To Kirklees ) Ovenden Brighouse North Bridge Hipperholme Pellon Elland Power Station St Pauls Elland Halifax South Parade Greetland Shaw Syke Rochdale Road Halt Copley West Vale Stainland and Holywell Green Sowerby Bridge Watson's Crossing Halt Luddendenfoot Triangle Ripponden and Barkisland ( To Burnley ) Rishworth Portsmouth Mytholmroyd Cornholme Hebden Bridge Stansfield Hall Eastwood Todmorden Walsden ( To Rochdale )