Bradford centre is being redrawn to mean more pedestrian zones and a new loop for buses circling round the inner core of the West Yorkshire city. Old tram tracks have been discovered by workers doing some digging to facilitate the walking and cycling improvements. Also, big changes to railways are planned for Bradford. A new platform will be built at Bradford Forster Square station to allow more trains to run to London. At Bradford Interchange, the bus station is shut at the moment because of a lump of concrete falling in late 2023. The adjoining railway station, on the Calder Valley line, has managed to be kept open. The Government has committed investment of £2 billion to a new station off Wakefield Road, on the edge of the city centre, along with much reduced journey times to Huddersfield and Manchester and Leeds. #railway #Bradford #trainspotting #tram #bus
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Though the tram system did close in 1950, an electric tram survived as the scoreboard at Odsal. This was restored at Thornbury works and was able to run on a section of track using the trolleybus wires, it ran occasionally until the works closed and is now on display in the Bradford Industrial museum. A few years ago a horse tram that was bei g restored in Ipswich was discovered to have ruin Bradford before moving to Cambridge. It's now on display at Ipswich.
I don't know why but Bradford always seems to have big ideas and big problems that halt them, so I have my doubts already about the new improved stations. It's a shame such a big city has two poor stations and both were replacements for the old much better ones they demolished.
It is a shame the proposal to connect the two lines and build one station that formed a through route north to south got abandoned. This sort of money would have helped acheive it
For those of us from the states, these videos are really interesting. Again,thanks for sharing.
I remember on a visit to Derby during the 1990s seeing old tram rails unearthed during road works and the Derby trams ceased running in the 1930s.
years ago, I spent a while working in the old telephone exchange in Bradford. The town square was quite nicely laid out, with a real "piazza" feel to it and a huge TV at one end, but It was so superficial – step away and off down the side streets and the buildings were so dilapidated. Bradford is a town with a gret future behind it.
Really like visiting Bradford, though I haven't been there for a few years which is a shame as my mum, her parents and both sets of my gr.-grandparents came from city, with one side going there via Northowram and Queensbury. Live in East Yorkshire now, which isn't too far away but would have to rely on train or push bike to get there – which isn't too bad, done it a couple of times.
Instead of just putting gates up under the arches to stop the homeless from using then , put the gates up and give the homeless keys to lock the gates for their protection , they obviously like living there as it’s dry and out of the wind , of course you could put them into a nice hotel somewhere and let the government pay the bill ,give them a bike and mobile phone free food etc.
Interesting to see what is going on. I'm visiting West Yorkshire in July and will see for myself what the crack is.
Ay up how about putting NEW tram rails down and opening a new modern route in Bradford? I know this has been talked about in conjunction with linking up with the proposed Leeds light rail project. Will it ever happen though….?
When they originally got rid of the tram system in Manchester in the 1950s (I think). When reintroducing the new system they came across many old tram lines that has similarly been tarmac-ed over,only for the engineers having to cut through the old to make way for the new.
Well. After spending all the money they did, demolishing the old Forster Square station, building the "new one" that's atill there now, which had all the charisma of a plank of wood, tney could have done a better job in the first place and not need to spend so much now. I remember when they first built the lift block and it was covered in profiled steel cladding, which looked awful. They then spent more money a few years later, building it in stone. Still doesn't look great. The arches used to be parking. Instead of gating them off, turn them into small units for artisan shops, like a bakery or coffee stop for weary travellers along with a book store, tourist information point etc. Far more enticing. The interchange was never very appealing. Right idea, marrying bus and train links, but poorly executed. It's a shame that there couldn't be a modern tram system linked to the interchange as well, but it would be limited in operation because of the steep routes around the centre. It could have been a link between the two stations perhaps? Lived in Bradford and surrounding areas for around 25 years from 1985. Even then, a fair bit of the historical buildings in the city were demolished. Lets hope this has stopped. I think even now there are still derelict buildings from the riots that happened in 1995 and again in 2001. I and a few other vehicles inadvertently drove between the police line up of horses and riot police and the growing line up of rioters on that day in 2001 around Manningham that evening. I still think how close we came to being innocently involved. The mess I had to drive around the following day was unreal, especially all the burnt out Minis from the BMW garage. It was like an obstacle course! I'm digressing, but I eventually escaped Bradford!