| Bradford Forster Square | |
| Symbol Location: | gb |
| Symbol: | rail |
| Borough: | Bradford, City of Bradford |
| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 53.797°N -1.7529°W |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Manager: | Northern Trains |
| Platforms: | 3 (4 projected) |
| Code: | BDQ |
| Zone: | 3 |
| Classification: | DfT category C2 |
| Transit Authority: | West Yorkshire (Metro; 19??-2014) |
| Original: | Leeds and Bradford Railway |
| Years1: | 1846 |
| Events1: | Opened |
| Years2: | 1853 |
| Events2: | Rebuilt |
| Years3: | 1890 |
| Events3: | Rebuilt |
| Years4: | 1993 |
| Events4: | Rebuilt on new site |
| Footnotes: | Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 13 |
Bradford Forster Square railway station serves Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The majority of services to and from the station use and Class 331 electric multiple units operated by Northern Trains; they run on the Airedale line to, the Wharfedale line to and the Leeds-Bradford line to Leeds.
The other main railway station in the city is Bradford Interchange, which is about 10 minutes on foot from Forster Square; from here, services operate along the Calder Valley line to Leeds, Halifax,,, and London King's Cross.
The first rail service into Bradford was opened by the Leeds and Bradford Railway on 1 July 1846. The line approached the town from the north, up Bradford Dale from Shipley, and terminated at a railway station on Kirkgate, opposite the end of Market Street. There were hourly services to Leeds Wellington Station, and through trains to London Euston via and Rugby.[1]
The first railway station building was an imposing neoclassical building designed by William Andrews.[2] By 1853, the Midland Railway had acquired the Leeds and Bradford, and rebuilt the station. The new building was larger, but less interesting architecturally.
In 1890, the railway station was again replaced. The Midland Railway's architect Charles Trubshaw designed a large complex containing the passenger station, goods station and the Midland Hotel. The station had six platforms and an overall glazed roof of the ridge and furrow pattern. The station was also used by the North Eastern Railway. The station began to be called Market Street Station at this time,[1] but local maps and directories do not confirm this (see Station name below).[3]
By 1906,[4] Forster Square had been built just south-east of the railway station, but the name Forster Square Station was not used until 1924.
In 1953-54 the station underwent £60,000 of improvements. The glass and steel canopy covering the station was removed and "umbrella type" covers were installed over each platform, leaving the rails clear.[5]
In March 1963, the Beeching Report recommended the closure of all railways serving Wharfedale, and the removal of several services out of Forster Square. As a consequence, many railway stations closed in 1965, and local services to Leeds ceased. However, the decision to close was deferred for some of the lines. In 1972, Bradford Corporation (now City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council), together with several other local authorities in the area, determined to subsidise the Wharfedale and Airedale lines. The lines have remained open, and in the ensuing years, a number of stations have been reopened. From April 1974, the new West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (now known as Metro) took responsibility for those services.
Forster Square Station was truncated in 1993, when a new station was built slightly to the north with the old station demolished at the same time. The new station has three platforms, two of which (platforms 1 & 2) are able to accommodate intercity trains. The old station site was to have become a shopping mall (which had a working title of 'Broadgate'). The idea was to have passengers walk past the shops to access the platforms. That development, however, never happened due to the early 1990s recession. A new shopping centre (The Broadway) was finally built to the south of Kirkgate in 2015. The old station site was initially used as a car park, before a HMRC tax office Centenary Court was built.[6] Part of the screen arcade that fronted the 1890 station, as well as the Midland Hotel, remains. In 2005, these became much more visible, when the city centre redevelopment began and Forster House was demolished.
The line into Forster Square was electrified in 1994, as part of the electrification of the Airedale and Wharfedale lines, which allowed through electric trains to London via the newly electrified East Coast Main Line. More recently, the pedestrian approach from Cheapside has been redeveloped, and ticket barriers installed. As of late 2024, a new platform (platform '0') is being constructed to the east of the station. This is due to open in May 2025.[7]
Historically, there have been various proposals put forward which would link the two Bradford railway stations together, but none of these has yet materialised.
Over time, services have operated as follows:
There is some disagreement about what names were used and when. Most modern references state that at least one of them was called 'Market Street', but there is disagreement as to exactly when this name was in use:
W. E. Forster died in 1886,[8] [9] and when the nearby Central Post Office opened in 1887, Forster Square, between the Railway Station and the Post Office, had recently been named.[10]
Throughout the 19th century, contemporary directories and maps either used the railway company name or a nearby street to identify the station. In 1852 it was the "Leeds and Bradford Railway Station".[11] In 1863 the location was "Midland Railway, Bottom of Kirkgate".[12]
The date of the name change has not yet been identified. In 1901, it was "The Leeds and Bradford railway ... is leased by the Midland Railway Company, and its station (called the "Midland" station) is at the bottom of Kirkgate."[13] Again in 1908[14] and 1921[15] it was still the "Midland Station". By 1934 the station name had changed to "Forster Square Station (L.M.S.R)".[16]
Trains from Bradford Forster Square are operated by Northern Trains and London North Eastern Railway. Most trains are run by Northern; these are towards Leeds, and . During Monday to Saturday daytimes, trains operate every 30 minutes to Leeds and hourly on the other two routes. On weekday and Saturday evenings there are trains every hour to each of Skipton and Ilkley, but no trains run through to Leeds; instead a shuttle service runs between Bradford and Shipley, connecting there with Skipton – Leeds trains. Connections are also available at Shipley for longer distance trains to and ; a single early direct service to at 06:41 runs from here since the May 2022 timetable change, but there's no balancing return service.
On Sundays, trains run hourly between Bradford and Leeds all day (until the end of service) and to both Skipton and Ilkley. The latter two routes were upgraded from two-hourly frequencies at the December 2017 timetable change.
During off-peak hours most trains use platforms 1 (for Skipton) and 2 (Leeds and Ilkley) – platform 3 is mainly used during weekday peak periods and in the evening, though a spare set is usually stabled here between 09.00 and 16.00 each weekday.
London North Eastern Railway operates two services each way (only one on Sundays) per day via Leeds and the East Coast Main Line to London King's Cross. In January 2024, £24 million was allocated for a fourth platform at the station to allow more flexibility. LNER will subsequently be able to provide up to five services a day for Bradford's 2025 City of Culture events.[24] [25]