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Historic station reopens after £10m facelift

Charles Heslett
BBC News, Yorkshire•@CharlesHeslett
Reporting fromKeighley
BBC Burgundy and yellow painted wooden doors in a Yorkshire stone building with a metal and glass canopy above a paved area BBC
The station has kept its traditional vanilla yellow and maroon paintwork

The £10m renovation of a 130-year-old railway station in West Yorkshire has been completed, three months later than planned, Network Rail has said.

Rail users faced disruption during work on the Grade II listed Keighley Station, which had been due to finish by the end of 2024 but was delayed due to problems with the old roof structure.

On Friday, the final sections of scaffolding were being removed from the Yorkshire stone building which is used as a mainline station and by the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR).

The restoration began in 2023 and included an upgrade of the building's ornate glass and cast-iron front canopy as well as a new roof.

The outside of a passenger bridge painted in burgundy and yellow with a stone date plaque above reading 1885.
The station was built in 1885 and there were calls to restore it dating back to 2019

The work included installing hand-built timber frames for some of the 100-plus new window panes.

Old cast iron drainpipes were replaced with matching vintage designs made of aluminium and crumbling chimneys were rebuilt brick by brick.

Matthew Stroh, KWVR chairman, said: "The Keighley station project has been a true partnership effort.

"We have worked closely with Network Rail and their contractors, temporarily closing our line to allow them the time and space needed to work effectively – benefiting everyone involved."

He said the work was "long-awaited" but the results "speak for themselves."

The station's historical water tower is also being turned into a KWVR visitor centre.

A woman wearing a blue fleece standing outside the front entrance of the station.
Susan Hepworth is a regular user and was pleased the character of the station had been retained

Susan Hepworth, a carer who lives in Riddlesden and a regular user of the station, said: "I remember if when it had a goods yard across the road where Sainsbury's now is and I remember it before the technical college was built.

"It seemed a much more imposing structure because it didn't have all this modernity around it.

"I like it [the renovation], I think it brings its character out. I particularly like the boards telling about the history of it... on the platforms and in the waiting rooms."

A duel entrance with stone middle pillar and glass and metal canopies above.
The station's main entrance which leads to the ticket office and main platforms

Calls for Network Rail to improve Keighley Station have stretched back years.

Local rail user groups and the town's then Labour MP John Grogan supported a long campaign calling for the work to be carried out.

Network Rail's announced in October 2019 that it would carry out the necessary upgrades.

The town's current Conservative MP Robbie Moore has also pushed the firm to deliver the scheme.

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