Description
The station is situated on a hill falling from the south of the city down to the River Aire and the Leeds canal basin. Much of it is supported on a huge number of Victorian brick vaulted arches known to the people of Leeds as The Dark Arches. Situated just off Neville Street under the Dark Arches is Granary Wharf, a shopping centre consisting of cafés, restaurants, shops and exhibition spaces nestling in the arches directly beneath the railway station.
The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest (by number of platforms) in England outside London. There are eleven terminus platforms and six through platforms. Retail facilities within the station include coffee shops, fast food outlets, a bar, newsagents, chemists, and supermarkets. A British Transport Police station is situated on New Station Street, housing officers who police the West Yorkshire railway stations.
Leeds station is of note in that it retained manned ticket barriers through the 1990s until 2008, when they were replaced by automatic barriers by Northern Rail to help improve the congestion around the barriers at peak times. During this time barriers were removed from almost every British Rail station, although automatic barriers have now returned to many stations, particularly in London, the South and South Wales. Liverpool Lime Street was another station that retained manned barriers; both stations are characterised by a mix of suburban and long-distance services.
Platform usage varies depending on operational circumstances but is generally:
- 1–6 – Bays mostly used by MetroTrain services operated by Northern Rail, although some East Coast (EC) and other Northern services start and finish there. EC services between Skipton or Bradford Forster Square and London often reverse at these platforms.
- 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 – through platforms. In general, EC services that don't terminate or reverse at Platform 6 use Platform 8. CrossCountry services heading North to York and beyond tend to depart from Platform 9 or 11; those heading South often use 12. Platforms 15 and 16 tend to be used by North/East and South/Westbound TransPennine Express services to Newcastle and York, and Huddersfield, Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street respectively.
- 7, 14 – Bays generally used for local Northern services running North/East from Leeds.
- 10, 13, 17 – Bays generally used for local and regional Northern services running South/West to Sheffield and Nottingham.
Read more about this topic: Leeds Railway Station
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