Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train every month for ten years. This month, he’s headed to Bradford…

Chester-le-Track has been promoting Bradford as a fascinating city to visit since 1999. It’s a large (population 528,155), vibrant City in West Yorkshire, reached from the north-east via Leeds on the TransPennine route.

As it happens, Bradford was chosen by Northern Rail for its annual “thank you” event for stakeholders, which I was unable to attend this year. That offered a visit to the Bradford Industrial Museum, lunch in the Abundant Life Centre, and a visit either to the National Media Museum or the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Lister Park.

The National Media Museum is a favourite of mine (formerly known as the National Museum of Film, Television and Photography, until the internet came along and threatened an even longer title). They wisely decided to go for National Media Museum, where I saw an excellent Robert Zemeckis film a few weeks ago called The Walk, about the tightrope walker who walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 7th August 1974. It’s on general release now, but looked its best in 3D on a giant IMAX screen.

Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the “wool capital of the world”. The area’s access to a supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of Bradford’s manufacturing base, which – as textile manufacture grew – led to an explosion in population, and was a stimulus to civic investment. Bradford has much listed Victorian architecture, including the grand Italianate City Hall.

A major London company ran a textiles conference in Bradford during mid-October, bringing students into Bradford from many colleges and universities. Chester-le-Track was pleased to provide rail tickets for the participants, which was done by getting each institution to ring us with their ticket orders, and the transactions were all billed to the London company’s credit card. Not only did they get the best fares, but it saved all the invoices flying around from the various colleges.

We’re equipped to handle travel to large conferences and events by rail, so just ask us what we can do.

There are two good hotels to use for an overnight stay, next to Bradford’s two rail stations. The Interchange station has the Victoria hotel opposite, while the Midland Hotel is close to the other station at Bradford Forster Square. Both stations have direct services to London, with an electric service from Bradford Forster Square (more trains are available from Leeds), and a diesel service from Bradford Interchange four times a day. Trains from Leeds, with connections from the north-east, run into both stations frequently.

As stationmaster, I spend some of my time travelling around the network, frequently accompanied by our apprentices. I also speak to clubs and societies about rail ticketing, most recently at Marton near Middlesbrough, and at Alnwick. I have a particularly good knowledge of London, which is important since 70% of our tickets on the National Rail network are issued to, from, or via London.

I can speak on several railway subjects (including history, time, my adventures in Bradford, and most particularly railway fares), and if you would like to speak to an association of any sort, you are welcome to email me.

Alex Nelson