The 40 mile Wensleydale railway was built in stages during the 19th century and connected two main lines: the East Coast main line at Northallerton and the Settle-Carlisle line at Garsdale. It closed to passenger services in stages during the 20th century (1950s-60s) and is re-opening in stages in the 21st century.

There is an impressively detailed history of the Wensleydale railway (among many others) on the Railways of Britain website.

There are also some great personal reminiscences (with contemporary photographs) of life on and near the Wensleydale Railway in the “History and Heritage” section of the Wensleydale Railway Association’s website.

When passenger services ended, 18 miles of track between Redmire and Garsdale were torn up and the land was sold to adjacent landowners. The remaining 22 miles of track remained in place between Northallerton and Redmire, carrying freight traffic (stone from Redmire quarry to the British Steel plant at Redcar) until 18 December 1992.

In 1989, reprieve of the Settle-Carlisle railway from a longstanding closure proposal provided the trigger for formation of the voluntary Wensleydale Railway Association (WRA) the following year (1990). The WRA’s aim was to bring back passenger services to the surviving 22 mile track and then to campaign for the reconstruction of the 18 mile ‘missing link’, thus restoring the full 40 mile route of the original Wensleydale railway. The main purpose was for the railway to support economic regeneration of this rural dale in an environmentally-friendly way (reasoning that had been accepted when the Settle-Carlisle line was reprieved the previous year).

In 1995, privatisation of British Rail led the WRA to take a more active part than originally planned in ensuring the return of rail services to Wensleydale as it became “do-it yourself or do without”.

In 2000, the WRA formed a company, Wensleydale Railway plc, which launched a share offer to raise funds for development and operation of the line; more than £1.2 million was raised.

In 2003, the Company took a 99 year lease from Network Rail for the 22 miles of track between Northallerton and Redmire. Passenger services began on 4 July 2003 between Leeming Bar and Leyburn (12 miles) using DMU (diesel multiple unit) trains

In 2004, train services were extended by nearly five miles to Redmire and three more stations were re-opened: Bedale, Finghall and Redmire.

It is a priority now to re-lay a link into Northallerton station.  Regular branch line trains could then connect with the main line trains again, providing a convenient link for passengers to and from Wensleydale. Learn more about this project.

At the same time, initial plans are being drawn up to extend the railway westwards towards Aysgarth Falls, as the first part of the restoration of the track  to Hawes and Garsdale, to link once again with the Settle-Carlisle Railway.