The Harrogate line is a 39 mile unelectrified line in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. The line is operated by Northern with additional services operated by London and North Eastern Railway(LNER). Trains run from Leeds to York at a frequency of 2tph in each direction after the Knaresborough service was extended to York. A service from Leeds to York or vice versa takes about an hour. The Route The line features these stations: Leeds City Burley Park Headingley Horsforth Weeton Pannal Hornbeam Park Harrogate Starbeck Knaresborough Cattal Hammerton Poppleton York This line has a lot of history. Several disused stations existed on this line: Royal Gardens (Closed 1858) Cardigan Road Goods (Previously a goods station, now a builders yard) Horsforth woodside (Closed 1864) Arthington (Junction for closed Otley Branch line) Goldsbourgh (Closed in 1958) Hopperton (also closed in 1958) Wilstrop Siding (Closed to passengers 1931 and to freight 1964) Marston Moor (Closed 1958) Hessay (Closed 1958) The ripon railway that ran out of Harrogate to Northallerton closed in 1967. Landmarks include Bramhope Tunnel near Horsforth and the 80ft high Knaresborough Viaduct. Trains Trains would include: Class 150 Class 153/155/156 Class 170 Class 800 (Most likely only included as a layer from another future route with it) This route is steeped in history and has some amazing views. I would love this route in game.
This would be an ideal route. Good scenery, an interesting looping network, busy stations at York and Leeds, and plenty of scope for a variety of traction. Any LNER services should layer on if a modern ECML route were ever made. What about connecting Leeds to York directly via Church Fenton too so we could drive/ride in a full circle?
I play this route on TS22 quite a bit. It's a scenic route and quite a nice drive. For a better variety of services though, as AirbourneAlex said, it would be good to include the Leeds direct line from York via Garforth, Cross Gates and Church Fenton. Also, LNER services from Leeds only go to Harrogate. They don't use the full route back to York.
Yes I know that LNER only goes to Harrogate. If they made this line and the line via church Fenton, they could also include the class 185 operated by TPE and the 195 operated by Northern. "Mid Yorkshire Railways" would be a good name for it.
I think it could be a nice extension to NTP if they ever happen. Obviously it would have to be back dated as well.
