Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway

Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Status	partially closed
Locale	West Yorkshire
Termini	Ilkley Otley
Stations	4
Operation
Opened	1865
Closed	1965
Owner	Midland Railway, North Eastern Railway
Technical
Line length	6.5 mi (10.46 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map MR to Skipton Ilkley Ben Rhydding Burley-in-Wharfedale Burley Jn to Leeds and Menston Shipley, MR owned High Royds Hospital Railway Guiseley Otley Yeadon Otley to Arthington, NER owned Pool-in-Wharfedale Esholt NER to Harrogate Baildon Arthington(2nd station) MR to Shipley (Guiseley Jn) NER to Leeds MR to Leeds (Apperley Jn)

The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway was a railway line running between the towns of Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The line was managed and run jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was 6.5 miles (10.46 km) long. Opened to passenger traffic on 1 August 1865 and freight traffic some months later, the line ran for almost 100 years before partial closure in July 1965 when the line to Otley closed. Today passenger services still run over the rest of the line as part of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) Wharfedale Line.

The towns of Otley and Ilkley both lie in Wharfedale and the early railway schemes passed the valley by. An act of parliament had been obtained by the Lancashire & Yorkshire North Eastern Railway (incorporated as the Wharfdale [sic] Railway Company) in 1846 to build a line from Skipton through Ilkley and Otley to Arthington but the scheme failed as the company could not raise the necessary capital and was wound up in 1852.

A second proposal was made in 1856 for a company called the Wharfedale Railway to construct a line on the same route as that authorised in 1846, but the promotors of this scheme could get no support from the major companies (the MR and the NER) who operated the lines into which the Wharfedale Railway would connect.

Finally in 1860, following approaches from local representatives, the NER and the MR met and agreed to build a joint line between Otley and Ilkley. The Midland Railway would make a connection with the new line by building a branch from the Leeds to Bradford line at Apperley Bridge to a junction at Burley in Wharfedale and the NER would build a branch from its Leeds to Harrogate line at Arthington to make an end-on connection with the new line at Otley. The necessary parliamentary powers were granted in 1861 with the passing of two acts; the Midland Railway (Otley and Ilkley Extension) Act 1861 and the North Eastern Railway (Extension to Otley and Ilkley) Act 1861. To obtain its Act the MR had to agree to demands from the residents of Bradford who felt aggrieved that with the construction of the line there would be two direct routes between Ilkley and Leeds (Ilkley—Guiseley—Leeds & Ilkley—Arthington—Leeds) and none between Bradford and Ilkley. The act therefore stated that "equal facilities and advantages as regards trains and the conveyance and accommodation of passengers on the Railway shall be afforded to or from Bradford as those to or from Leeds".

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