Ben Rhydding railway station is a railway station in Ben Rhydding, situated a mile to the east of Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. On the Wharfedale Line between Ilkley and Leeds/Bradford Forster Square, it is served by Class 333 electric trains run by Northern Rail, who also manage the station.
[edit] Services
During Monday to Saturday daytimes services run to/from Leeds and Bradford twice per hour, and there are four services every hour to Ilkley. During Monday to Saturday evenings, services are hourly to/from both Leeds and Bradford Forster Square. On Sundays, services are hourly to/from Leeds and every two hours to/from Bradford. The station has a small car park, but no other amenities.
[edit] History
Ben Rhydding station, built as part of the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway, was opened to passenger traffic on 1 July 1866, eleven months after the opening of the railway. In April 1885 the North Eastern Railway Board had "ordered that a small wooden station consisting of booking office, waiting room and retiring room for ladies be provided as a temporary accommodation at Ben Rhydding." Six years later, in May 1871, the Joint Committee reached an agreement with the proprietor of the Ben Rhydding Hydro, that a more permanent station structure should be built at the expense of the Hydro, with a ground rent of a penny per annum, so long as the structures met the approval of the railway engineer, a Mr. Crossley. The Hydro's arrangements with the company lasted until 1885, when the structures - a stone built station house on the south (down) platform and a wooden structure on the north (up) platform - were sold to the railway company for £240. Clients of the hydro were met by the hydro's horse-bus, and later by motor-bus, up until some time after the first world war. The station was opened to goods traffic in 1888, and trailing access sidings were provided on the down side for this purpose. A new signal box was opened in 1901, situated at the Ilkley end of the northern platform. The signal box closed in December 1965. Goods traffic ceased on 5 July 1965, and the sidings later removed. Station staff were withdrawn on 7 October 1968, when 'pay-trains' were introduced.[1] The stone station building has subsequently been demolished, and shelter on both platforms is restricted to simple bus-stop type covered areas.
[edit] References
- ^ The Railways of Wharfedale, Peter E. Baughan (1969) David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd
[edit] External links
National Rail
