Idle railway station
{{about|the station open from 1875 to 1931|the earlier station in the same town|Idle railway station (Leeds and Bradford Railway)}}
{{short description|Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Idle
| status = Disused
| image =
| borough = Idle, West Yorkshire, City of Bradford
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|53.8358|-1.7316|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| platforms = 2
| original = GNR
| pregroup = GNR
| postgroup = L&NER
| years = 15 April 1875
| events = Opened
| years1 = 2 February 1931
| events1 = Closed (passenger)
| years2 = 7 October 1968
| events2 = Closed (line)
}}
{{Bradford Lines}}
Idle railway station was a railway station in Idle, West Yorkshire, England.{{cite book |last=Whitaker |first=Alan |first2=Brian |last2=Myland |title=Railway Memories No. 4: Bradford |publisher=Bellcode books |isbn=1-871233-03-8}}
History
During the 1860s, two small railway companies were formed to promote suburban railways in Bradford, the Bradford, Eccleshill and Idle Railway and the Idle and Shipley Railway. Their schemes - and the companies themselves - were taken up by the Great Northern Railway, which built a line looping through the villages to the north-east of Bradford: from {{rws|Laisterdyke}}, through {{stnlnk|Eccleshill}}, Idle and {{rws|Thackley}} to Shipley.
The line was open to goods traffic on 4 May 1874, and to passengers on 18 January 1875.{{cite book |title=The Great Northern Railway in the East Riding |last=Bairstow |first=Martin |publisher=Martin Bairstow |year=1999 |isbn = 1-871944-19-8}} Idle railway station opened on 15 April 1875{{cite web |url=http://www.bradfordtimeline.co.uk/185099.htm |title=Bradford timeline 1850-1899 |access-date=26 December 2009}} and was situated south of the High Street next to the Oddfellows Hall, built in 1840.
Passenger service on the line ceased on 2 February 1931 and the passenger station closed, though goods traffic continued on the whole line until October 1964 and between Shipley and Idle until 1968.{{cite book |last = Joy |first = David |year = 1984 |title = A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Volume VIII South and West Yorkshire |publisher = David St John Thomas |isbn = 0-946537-11-9 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/southwestyorkshi0000joyd }}
Little now remains to show that there was ever a railway station in Idle. The station was just south of the bridge where the railway crossed High Street at the junction with New Street. It then followed the route of what is now Idlecroft Road south towards {{rws|Eccleshill}}.
Route
{{Disused Rail Start}}
{{rail line|previous={{rws|Thackley}}|next={{rws|Eccleshill}}|route=GNR
Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line|col=964B00}}
{{end box}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Railway stations in the City of Bradford}}
Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1875
Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1931
Category:Disused railway stations in Bradford
Category:Former Great Northern Railway stations