Passenger services: Great Northern Railway
Goods services: British Railways (North Eastern Region)

Notes: The 2½-mile branch from Holmfield to Halifax (St Pauls) was one of the temporary closures to passengers in World War I which proved to be permanent. It was an extraordinary line which followed an indirect, steeply graded route, including the 819yd Wheatley Tunnel and a 100ft tall, ten-arch viaduct over the Hebble Valley, to end in the suburbs of Halifax some 300ft above the town centre and the existing main railway station. It was also expensive to build and, at first glance, would appear to be an absurd enterprise. However the St Pauls line was part of a bold plan by which the Midland Railway’s Anglo-Scottish expresses could travel by Sheffield, Barnsley, Huddersfield and Halifax, thence via the Great Northern Railway (GNR) Queensbury route to Keighley, and it depended upon the Hull & Barnsley Railway (see South Cave) extending its network via Huddersfield to a new Halifax (Central) station in George Square.

In 1884 a company rejoicing in the name of the Halifax High Level & North & South Junction Railway was authorised to construct 5¼ miles of route from Holmfield, on the Halifax (Old) to Queensbury line, which consisted of the St Pauls branch and another branch to Halifax (Central) where it would meet the Hull & Barnsley’s extension. An Act of September 1886 restricted the Halifax High Level project to the Holmfield-St Pauls section, and it would be worked jointly by the Lancashire & Yorkshire and GNR companies; the GNR provided the passenger train services. In 1894 the line was vested in the two companies. Although this modest branch line, without the other to Halifax (Central), had no strategic value it nevertheless made sense on a local level: prior to its opening, the 130 mills in the elevated western suburbs of Halifax had to be supplied with 80,000 tons of coal each year, which had a difficult uphill journey.

On 1 August 1890 the branch opened to goods as far as Pellon, ¾-mile short of St Pauls, and to all traffic to St Pauls on 5 September 1890. The service operated as a shuttle between St Pauls and Holmfield’s bay platform, allowing passengers to change there for Bradford trains. In December 1895 there were 13 weekday departures and five on Sunday. In April 1910 the service had reduced slightly to 11 on weekdays, with an extra on Monday and Thursday but still five on Sunday. The trains were of little value to anyone living in the St Pauls or Pellon areas for travel to central Halifax or the ‘Old’ station owing to the indirectness of the route, the need to change trains, and the relative infrequency of the service. By 1898 electric trams had reached the vicinity of St Pauls and Pellon stations providing fast and frequent services to the centre. On various other lines ‘rail-motors’ were introduced to reduce costs, often in connection with opening halts to tap extra traffic; although tried out on the St Pauls branch in 1906 a steam rail-motor was not adopted, perhaps because of the steep gradients of 1 in 35 at Holmfield and 1 in 50 approaching Pellon from the north. No further passenger stations were opened, although a goods station was added at Wheatley, south of the viaduct.

Halifax St Pauls had an island platform with a glazed ridge-and-furrow verandah extending for a little over half its length. At the southern end a further glazed verandah was provided over the concourse at the head of the platform. The entrance building was a single-storey brick structure with a pitched roof and raised gables, and the entrance was beneath a cross-gable. Four goods sidings were found east of the passenger station, and north of the station, adjacent to the signal box was a further siding approaching the turntable.

Many lightly used stations closed on 1 January 1917 to release railway staff for military service, and the St Pauls branch lost its passenger service on that date. Although freight continued to be handled, only occasional excursions used the line. After passenger closure the branch was singled and most of the signalling was dismantled. A Stephenson Locomotive Society special is understood to have been the last passenger train to visit St Pauls, on 6 September 1953. The freight services on the line ended on 27 June 1960 and the facilities at Wheatley, Pellon and St Pauls were closed. St Pauls station building is thought to have been demolished in, or shortly after, 1963, and the rails were probably removed by the mid 1960s.

The north end of the station site was redeveloped for housing in the 1960s and 1970s (Kingston Close and Kingston Court). The south end of the was until recently occupied by the DYL Motorgroup car showroom and garage. The 2.14 acre site is (2015) currently for sale.

Ticket from Michael Stewart. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see the other stations on the Halifax - Bradford - Keighley lines click on the station name: Pellon, Halifax North Bridge, Ovenden, Holmfield, Queensbury, Clayton, Great Horton, Horton Park, Manchester Road, St. Dunstan's, Bradford Adolphus Street, Thornton, Denholme, Wilsden, Cullingworth & Ingrow East