Blackrod railway station

Blackrod

Location
Place	Blackrod
Local authority	Bolton
Coordinates	53°35′28″N 2°34′12″W / 53.591°N 2.570°W / 53.591; -2.570Coordinates: 53°35′28″N 2°34′12″W / 53.591°N 2.570°W / 53.591; -2.570
Grid reference	SD623106
Operations
Station code	BLK
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.438 million
2011/12	0.456 million
2012/13	0.573 million
2013/14	0.589 million
2014/15	0.545 million
National Rail – UK railway stations

* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Blackrod from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Blackrod railway station serves the village of Blackrod, England, 6.5 miles (10 km ) north west of Bolton railway station. It is just 1 ¹⁄₄ miles (2.0 km) from the town centre of Horwich - closer than Horwich Parkway station.

It lies on the Manchester-Preston Line and is served primarily by local services run by Northern. First TransPennine Express services between Manchester Airport and Preston also serve the station at peak times. Despite its high passenger usage and the recent refurbishment (see below) the station is currently unstaffed.

History

The station was opened on 4 February 1841 as Horwich Road by the Manchester and Bolton Railway. It was renamed Horwich and Blackrod, then Horwich Junction, then Horwich and Blackrod junction, finally Blackrod in 1888 ^[1]

Blackrod was once the junction for a short branch to serve the original Horwich station (closed to passengers on 27 September 1965^[2]) and Horwich Locomotive Works (sold in 1988, after which the line was closed and lifted). Until the 1980s, Blackrod had a poor frequency of service,^[3] but for many years it has been a popular commuter station.

Technical Railway Information

The station had until recently a signal box, the only one on the entire Manchester to Preston route. This had outlasted the others as it acted as the 'fringe' to both the Manchester Piccadilly signalling centre and Preston PSB. The train description system used in the Preston installation was incompatible with that installed at Piccadilly^[4] so the signaller at Blackrod had to transfer train data manually from one system to the other as each one passed through his/her control area. A similar situation existed at Bromley Cross on the Bolton to Blackburn line, where the two control areas also overlap.^[5]
Network Rail announced in May 2012 that the box was due to be abolished in January 2013, with control passing to the Piccadilly signalling centre. This is part of a programme of signalling renewals associated with the planned electrification of the Manchester to Preston line (due for completion in 2016). The box was duly decommissioned on 10 February 2013 and subsequently demolished.^[6]

Blackrod in 1962

2012 Refurbishment

Over one million pounds' worth of improvements to the station (including the removal of the footbridge shown in the photo and its replacement with step-free access ramps) were completed in November 2012.^[7]

Services

There is currently an hourly daytime service (including Sundays) to Manchester Victoria southbound and to Preston and Blackpool North northbound, with some Monday to Friday peak extras.^[8]

Services between Manchester Airport or Hazel Grove and Blackpool are not as frequent,^[9] with only a few services during rush hours.

References

↑ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
↑ Disused Stations - HorwichDisused Stations - Horwich; Retrieved 16 August 2016
↑ BR Timetable 1973, table 96
↑ "Blackrod Station - Blackrod Junction signal box". www.blackrod.org.uk. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
↑ "Bromley Cross signal box". www.signalbox.org. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
↑ Blackrod Station - Past & Present www.blackrod.org website news article; Retrieved 2012-10-29
↑ "Passengers to benefit from over £1 million investment at Blackrod station". Northern Rail News. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
↑ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 82
↑ "Passenger Train Slots" (PDF). www.rail-reg.gov.uk. Retrieved 2008-10-04.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blackrod railway station.

Train times and station information for Blackrod railway station from National Rail
Blackrod Station - Past & Present

Preceding station	National Rail		Following station
Adlington		Northern Manchester-Preston Line	Horwich Parkway
Chorley		TransPennine Express TransPennine North West Limited Services	Horwich Parkway
	Historical railways
Adlington Line and station open		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Bolton and Preston Railway	Lostock Lane Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Horwich Branch	Horwich Line and station closed

Railway stations in Greater Manchester

Bolton	Blackrod Bolton Bromley Cross Daisy Hill Farnworth Hall i' th' Wood Horwich Parkway Kearsley Lostock Moses Gate Westhoughton

Bury	Bury Bolton Street ^†( Bury) Ramsbottom ^† Summerseat ^†

Manchester (Manchester station group in italics)	Ardwick Ashburys Belle Vue Burnage Deansgate ( Deansgate-Castlefield) East Didsbury Gorton Levenshulme Manchester Airport Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Victoria Mauldeth Road Moston Ryder Brow

Oldham	Greenfield

Rochdale	Castleton Heywood ^† Littleborough Mills Hill Rochdale Smithy Bridge

Salford	Clifton Eccles ( Eccles) Irlam Moorside Patricroft Salford Central Salford Crescent Swinton Walkden

Stockport	Bramhall Bredbury Brinnington Cheadle Hulme Davenport Gatley Hazel Grove Heald Green Heaton Chapel Marple Middlewood Reddish North Reddish South Romiley Rose Hill Marple Stockport ( Stockport) Strines Woodley Woodsmoor

Tameside	Ashton-under-Lyne ( Ashton) Broadbottom Denton Fairfield Flowery Field Godley Guide Bridge Hattersley Hyde Central Hyde North Mossley Newton for Hyde Stalybridge

Trafford	Altrincham Chassen Road Flixton Hale Humphrey Park Manchester United Navigation Road Trafford Park Urmston

Wigan	Atherton Bryn Gathurst Hag Fold Hindley Ince Orrell Pemberton Wigan North Western Wigan Wallgate ( Wigan)

^† stations on the East Lancashire Railway (heritage) List of open stations List of closed stations TfGM Transport

Buildings and structures in Bolton Borough, England

Buildings	Astley Bridge Mill Bolton Town Hall Bolton Museum Bolton Steam Museum Bolton Union Mill Century Mill, Farnworth Eagley Mills 10 Firwood Fold 15 Firwood Fold Hall i' th' Wood Kearsley Mill Smithills Hall Swan Lane Mills Ye Olde Man & Scythe

Places of worship	All Souls Church, Bolton Holy Trinity Church, Horwich St George's Church, Bolton St James' Church, Daisy Hill St John the Evangelist's Church, Farnworth St Mary the Virgin's Church, Deane St Margaret's Church, Halliwell St Matthew's Church, Little Lever St Maxentius' Church, Bradshaw St Patrick's Church, Bolton St Peter's Church, Bolton St Saviour's Church, Ringley St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge St Thomas' Church, Halliwell Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

Education	Bolton School Bolton TIC Rivington and Blackrod High School University of Bolton

Transportation	Bolton bus station Bolton Interchange Bolton railway station Blackrod railway station Farnworth railway station Horwich Parkway railway station Kearsley railway station Lostock railway station Moses Gate railway station Ringley Old Bridge Westhoughton railway station

Shopping complexes	Middlebrook

Sport and Entertainment	Bolton Arena Bolton Little Theatre Macron Stadium Octagon Theatre

Demolished	Burnden Park Lostock Junction Mills Chequerbent railway station Chequerbent railway station (1831) Grundy Hill Horwich railway station Westhoughton Mill

Lists	List of schools in Bolton List of mills in Bolton

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.