Bradford Market Street Midland Station Train Shed c.1915 - DNT00216

The station here was originally built in 1846 by the Leeds & Bradford Railway which had been formed to connect the two towns with a railway along the Aire Valley; it was acquired by the MR in 1853 who rebuilt the station. It was intended that when the L&YR line was completed from Halifax to Bradford in 1850 it would extend across Bradford to join up with the Midland Station but this never came about thus leaving Bradford to this day with two disconnected terminus stations only a few hundred metres apart. The station was re- built in 1890 to accommodate the MR’s Anglo-Scottish traffic resulting from construction of their Settle-Carlisle line; the train shed, seen here, covered six platforms. The station was also used by the NER primarily for their Harrogate services.

The station became known as Market Street Station and then in 1924 it was officially named Forster Square Station. In 1967 services were reduced to serving just Ilkley and Skipton with Leeds services discontinued but an hourly service has been restored. The station seen here has been demolished and replaced with a much truncated and utilitarian structure a little further west.

Unknown

David Taylor

PHDA - David Taylor Collection