The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in stages by different railway companies and originally extended to railway station on the Settle-Carlisle line. Since 2003, the remaining line has been run as a heritage railway. The line runs between Northallerton West station, about a fifteen-minute walk from station on the East Coast Main Line, and . Regular passenger services operate between and , while occasional freight services and excursions travel the full length of the line. The line formerly ran from Northallerton to on the Settle-Carlisle Railway but the track between Redmire and Garsdale has been lifted and several bridges have been demolished, although one of the stated aims of the Wensleydale Railway is to reinstate the line from Redmire to Garsdale. Additionally, a separate proposal exists to link Hawes to Garsdale with a view to providing commuter and tourist services rather than heritage services. History On 26 June 1846, an Act of Parliament authorised the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway, and its successor the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, to build a line between Northallerton and Bedale. The section between Northallerton and Leeming Lane opened on 6 March 1848. The section between Leeming Bar and Bedale that was authorised by the Act was not built, due to the collapse of George Hudson's railway interests. This left the railway to terminate just west of the Great North Road in Leeming Bar, with passengers for Bedale being conveyed on the last section by horse and cart. The Bedale and Leyburn Railway, financed by local landowners, was an extension between Leeming Bar and Leyburn that was authorised on 4 August 1853; the section between Leeming Bar and Bedale station opened on 1 February 1855 and the remainder on 28 November 1855 for goods and minerals and 19 May 1856 for passengers. The York, Newcastle and Berwick had become a founder member of the North Eastern Railway (NER) on 31 July 1854, and the Bedale and Leyburn was absorbed into this larger company in 1859. The Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne Junction Railway had been proposed in the mid-1840s railway mania to link Settle, Hawes and Askrigg, and in 1846 the Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne Junction Railway was given permission for a main line from Elslack, on the Leeds and Bradford Railway, to Scorton on the Richmond branch