Halifax High Level Railway

The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly between the GNR and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The lines opened piecemeal from 1879 and it was not until 1882 that a full service was available. Passenger services continued until 1955, most goods services continued until the 1960s and the final part of the line to close lasted until 1972. However goods trains continued to run until 1974 between Bradford Exchange and Horton Park railway stations.

The lines were marked with a number of major civil engineering works including several viaducts and tunnels. A feature of the line was the unusual station at Queensbury which until the latter part of the 20th century was one of only two stations in the United Kingdom that consisted of a triangular junction with platforms on all three lines forming the junction.

The earliest proposal was a line to link Halifax and Keighley but when Parliamentary approval was sought, permission was only given for a short (2.5 miles (4.0 km)) branch line from Halifax to Ovenden. The line was approved on 30 June 1864 with the passing of the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway Act (27 & 28 Vict. c.cxliii). Construction of the line proved difficult and two more Acts of Parliament were required authorising variations before the line was completed. With the passing of the last of these acts, in 1870, the GNR and L&YR exercised their rights to take over the Halifax and Ovenden company and the resulting line was opened under the joint control of the two companies.

In 1871 the Bradford and Thornton Railway Company was formed to construct a line between the two via Queensbury and the Bradford and Thornton Railway Act (34 & 35 Vict. c.clxix) was passed but a year later the company was taken over by the GNR.

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