Brighouse railway station

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 1948, 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 reopened 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

Northern

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. Trains call every two hours on Sundays.

Since December 2008, the station is also served by an hourly Leeds - Dewsbury - Hebden Bridge - Manchester Victoria stopping service (Monday - Saturday daytime only, no late evening or Sunday service). 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 reopening. Some services from Leeds additionally terminate at Brighouse and vice versa.

The station has two platforms.

Grand Central - West Riding

The station now sees four direct return services per day (including Sundays) 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 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 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.