After a few years in the planning and development, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has recently opened a new station in West Yorkshire at Kirkstall Forge.

The new station is on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines out of Leeds and opened on 19th June 2016.  Initially one train per hour will call in each direction, with additional services during the morning and evening peaks.  I was there to take a few photographs of the station and the first trains to call which are available here;

http://www.russellwykes-photography.com/p310696296#h78197a22

I also attended the formal opening event held on 27th June that had been arranged by Commercial Estates Group (CEG) who are developing the 57 acre Kirkstall Forge site.  In addition to people from CEG, the event was also attended by representatives from West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Network Rail, the Northern rail franchise and the local MP Stuart Andrew.  Here are a few photos from this event; 

http://www.russellwykes-photography.com/p870171589#h7cbb81a2

Together with a new station at Apperley Bridge station which opened on 13th December 2015, Kirkstall Forge is part of West Yorkshire’s £15.9m Rail Growth Package.  It’s great to see new stations being opened in West Yorkshire to support the travel needs of the local population and also to give alternatives to road transport.

A new station is being built at Low Moor on the outskirts of Bradford and was also the subject of my first blog.  The development has recently been hampered by the discovery of a substantial old mine shaft on the site which has required filling.  Regretably it looks like the additional work required will mean that the opening of the station is unlikely to be during the ’Summer 2016’ which is the date being quoted by West Yorkshire Metro website at the time of writing. 

Images following the monthly progress with the building of the new station at Low Moor are available in this gallery;

http://www.russellwykes-photography.com/f327090396