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The Meltham branch line is a disused railway line that ran for 3 1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) from Lockwood to Meltham, in West Yorkshire, England. The line was single track for its entire length. The last regular passenger service was on 21 May 1949. It closed completely on 3 April 1965.
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History
The line was authorised by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Act of 7 June 1861. Construction began in April 1864 and the line opened to freight on 10 August 1868 with the first train carrying coal and lime. Passenger services began on 5 July 1869. The line was used to transport tractors from the David Brown tractor factory at Meltham.
The route
The route began just south of Lockwood station near Lockwood viaduct at a junction with the Penistone Line and continued as follows:
Present day
A new housing estate and a Morrisons supermarket have been built on the site of the Meltham station but much of the line remains. In 2004 a plan was proposed to convert much of the track bed to a cycle track to be known as the Meltham Greenway. The first section of this opened in May 2008 between Station Road in Meltham and Huddersfield road (B6108).
In 2012, the Friends of Beaumont Park were awarded £49,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out restoration of the section of track bed which ran along the lower end of the park and to turn it into a heritage trail. The project was completed towards the end of 2014.