Darwen railway station

Darwen
Darwen railway station looking north in 2014
Location
Place	Darwen
Local authority	Blackburn with Darwen
Coordinates	53°41′53″N 2°27′54″W / 53.698°N 2.465°WCoordinates: 53°41′53″N 2°27′54″W / 53.698°N 2.465°W
Grid reference	SD694225
Operations
Station code	DWN
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	0.262 million
2011/12	0.287 million
2012/13	0.309 million
2013/14	0.319 million
2014/15	0.327 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1847
Original company	Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
3 August 1847	Opened as Over Darwen
1 December 1883	Renamed Darwen
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Darwen from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Darwen railway station serves Darwen, a town in Lancashire, England. It was opened in 1847 by the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe & West Yorkshire Railway, which was subsequently taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway twelve years later. It is now served by Northern services on the Ribble Valley Line from Manchester Victoria/Bolton to Blackburn and into Clitheroe.

Darwen is set amongst the hills of East Lancashire. Arriving from or departing towards Bolton involves journeying through the long Sough Tunnel, some 2,015 yd (1,843 m) in length.

History

The railway line between Blackburn (Bolton Road) and Bolton was built by the Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton Railway, but it had amalgamated with the Blackburn, Clitheroe and North Western Junction Railway to form the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway by the time that the first section, from Blackburn to Sough, including the station at Over Darwen, 4 ¹⁄₄ miles (6.8 km) from Blackburn, was opened on 3 August 1847. The station was renamed Darwen on 1 December 1883.^[1][2]

The neighbouring stations either side which also served the area, at Lower Darwen and Spring Vale, were both closed in 1958 and the nearest surviving station to the south is now Entwistle.

Facilities

The station has two platforms. It is one of only two passing points on the otherwise single track Blackburn to Bolton part of the route, but trains normally cross here only in the morning and evening peak periods. The loop was extended in length by a mile (1.6km) either side of the station during a six week long engineering blockade in July & August 2015 to increase capacity on the line and eventually allow a half-hourly service to operate (as specified in the new Northern franchise agreement, due to come into effect in April 2016).^[3]

The station is currently unstaffed, with waiting shelters on each platform; it is fully accessible for disabled travellers. Ticket vending machines are available, along with a long-line PA system and passenger information screens to convey train running information.

Services

There is generally an hourly service daily (including Sundays) to Blackburn and Clitheroe northbound and Manchester Victoria southbound, rising to half-hourly during weekday peak hours.^[4]

References

1. Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 178, 181. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
2. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 179, 77. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
3. "Engineering work between Clitheroe and Manchester"Northern Rail news article 9 June 2015; Retrieved 15 September 2015
4. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 94

External links

• Train times and station information for Darwen railway station from National Rail