Extension to Addingham and Ilkley

As the original line stretched from the North Yorkshire market town of Skipton to the West Yorkshire spa town of Ilkley, there was talk of extending the re-opened track to cover the original extent prior to its closure by British Railways in 1965.

Taking the line to Addingham and re-opening Addingham is often mentioned as a potential project but the line's owners have stated that they intend to consolidate the current route instead.^[4]

An extension to Addingham would be a huge project, and would involve a near-doubling of the line's current length. Previous extensions have been built in small sections over a long period of time, so a re-opening of the line to Addingham would be many years off.

Reports suggest Sustrans are interested in converting the route into a cycle path, but would provide formation space for a single track allowing any extension to be built.^[5]

The Addingham extension could start off as an extension to a possible halt Wharfe Riverside located near the hamlet of Bolton Bridge^{[clarification needed]}), before Addingham could be considered officially.

The embankment supporting Addingham railway station, goods yard and depot was removed and replaced in the 1980s with a housing development, with the bridge and abutments over the main road demolished at around the same time.

There are plans to rebuild one of the bridge abutments at the end of the surviving embankment to the north as part of the Addingham Project which also involves constructing a replica LMS style station, goods yard and depot on the extra land next to and at the edge of the embankment.

These would be over the main road from the now defunct former station and goods depot. Funds would need to be collected for 10 to 15 years before any project of this extent could be realised.

Much of the route between Addingham and Ilkley has been re-developed since abandonment. Cuttings have been filled in and Ilkley viaduct was demolished in 1973, six years before the E&BASR re-opened.

The Skipton platforms at Ilkley station now form the station's car park, and there has been significant building development in Ilkley town centre on the former trackbed. Therefore, it is unlikely that this section will be reinstated as preserving the whole line between Ilkley and Skipton was considered too expensive.

Connection to Skipton station

There is currently no link between the Heritage line and the Network Rail branch line to Swinden Quarry (the former Yorkshire Dales Railway), the points at this site having been dismantled. Re-instating this link would allow trains to serve Skipton station, and would potentially offer greater access to the railway.^[6]

The platforms at Skipton (5 & 6) that served the Ilkley route were made redundant in 1965. If this link were reinstated these platforms would require a rebuild as they have been disused for a very long time.

In 1982 there were plans to extend the line to Skipton, as a special DMU service was running at the time.^{[citation needed]} Because British Rail still used the section between the two stations for its operations to Swinden Quarry (this section of the old branch line to Grassington was and is still part of the rail network), plans were dropped, stating that operating as far as Skipton whilst sharing the line with the goods operation was too problematic.

Network Rail has carried out a survey for the reinstatement of the connecting points between the Heritage line at Embsay and the freight line to Rylstone, and the reinstatement of the two platforms 5 and 6 at Skipton. The cost has been estimated to be between £1.1 million and £2.6 million.^[6] If funding is made available, then the line could be extended.^[7] JMP Consulting has been commissioned to develop a business case for the project.^[6]