Inside Leeds’ lost city centre train station which used explosives to signal services

Leeds city centre has one train station which accommodates all regional and national services.

But the city centre once had several stations. The most central, on Wellington Street, was called (not surprisingly) Leeds Central Station.

It opened in 1854 replacing a station with services to Dewsbury which had become unfit for purpose after just six years.

Read more: Hippos and elephants once roamed the streets of Leeds – and they could come back

Having several stations within a couple of square miles was illogical and chaotic. By 1967, all these stations were consolidated into the present-day Leeds Station.

The last train from Leeds Central left for Harrogate on April 29, 1967.

Passengers on the early evening services were in for a noisy ride as the locomotive left the station. Railway staff placed detonators – small explosive safety devices to warn colleagues of oncoming trains – on the track which exploded as the train approached the signal box.

Considered of little architectural value at the time, Leeds Central was pulled down the following year. The site was used for Royal Mail’s Leeds headquarters and later, West Point high-rise apartment block and the Central Square office building.

To get the latest email updates from Yorkshire Live, click here.