Lower Ince railway station

Lower Ince
Location
Place	Wigan
Area	Wigan
Coordinates	53°32′45″N 2°37′41″W / 53.54586°N 2.62813°WCoordinates: 53°32′45″N 2°37′41″W / 53.54586°N 2.62813°W
Grid reference	SD594047
Operations
Original company	Wigan Junction Railways
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Platforms	2
History
1 April 1884	Station opened
2 November 1964	Station closed completely[1]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
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Lines around Wigan in 1907

Lower Ince railway station was a railway station in southern Wigan, Lancashire, England.

GCR Lines to St Helens and Wigan
Legend
Wigan Central Wigan Darlington Street Springs Branch Ince Lower Ince Hindley Southport to M'cr Pemberton, avoiding Wigan Springs Branch Jct "The Whelley Loop" (Lancashire Union Rly) Strangeways West Jct Hindley South Strangeways East Jct Platt Bridge Manchester & Wigan Rly Bickershaw and Abram Park Lane Halt West Leigh and Bedford St Helens Central (GCR) St Helens Central Liverpool to Wigan Line Haydock Haydock Colliery Tunnel Ashton-in-Makerfield Haydock Park Golborne South WCML Golborne North LSH&SLR WJR Lowton St Mary's Jct Lowton St Mary's Kenyon Junction Chat Moss Line Culcheth Newchurch Halt Glazebrook Liverpool-M'cr CLC

Location and construction

Lower Ince station was in a cutting on the south side of Ince Green Lane,^[2][3] a short distance from the LYR's rival station, Ince.^[4]

The station was on the Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) line from Glazebrook West Junction to Wigan.^[5][6] The WJR was part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later to become the Great Central) and opened on 1 April 1884, with other stations along the line.

Lower Ince Engine Shed stood north west of the station.^[7] It closed on 26 March 1952.^[8]

Services

The service patterns in 1895, 1947 and 1962 are fully documented in the authoritative Disused Stations website.^[9]

In April 1884 the service pattern was straightforward. Six "Down" (towards Wigan) trains called from Manchester Central. In addition, one "express" called at Glazebrook only and passed Lower Ince without stopping. Of the six, three called at all stations, the remaining three missed some stations between Manchester and Glazebrook. With the exception of the "express" all trains called at all stations between Glazebrook and Wigan. The "Up" service was similar.^[10]

In 1922 six "Down" trains called, All Stations from Manchester Central on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays), with a further evening train from Lowton St Mary's only. Three other trains called, apparently All Stations from Culcheth, but it is possible they originated from Liverpool Central or Warrington Central and turned west to north at Glazebrook West Junction. One of these trains ran on Fridays and Saturdays Only and the other two ran on Saturdays Only. The "Up" service was broadly similar, but the mix of Saturday Only trains was even more complicated. There was no Sunday service.^[11]

Closure and after

According to Beeching's Reshaping of British Railways the line was more heavily used than many which did not close, however, as with many unmodernised and heavily used commuter lines it was deemed uneconomic. The line's main passenger traffic was workers travelling from the Wigan area to industrial plants in Cadishead and Partington and around the docks in Salford and Manchester; until the late 1970s the Lancashire United bus company operated a replacement bus service from Wigan to Partington.

The station closed completely on 2 November 1964 and has been demolished.^[12]

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Britain
• Wigan North Western railway station
• Wigan Wallgate railway station
• Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway
• Old railway lines in Wigan

References

1. The station via Disused Stations UK
2. The station via Wigan World
3. The station via Wigan World
4. The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
5. The line and mileages via railwaycodes
6. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45
7. Fields, Gilbert & Knight 1980, Photo 127
8. Sweeney 2013, pp. 92-102
9. The station via Disused Stations UK
10. Dow 1962, p. 354
11. Bradshaw 1922, pp. 714-5
12. The station via Disused Stations UK

Sources

• Bradshaw (1986), Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide (reprint), Guild Publishing London
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two: Dominion of Watkin, 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1469-8.
• Fields, N; Gilbert, A C; Knight, N R (1980), Liverpool to Manchester into the Second Century, Manchester Transport Museum Society, ISBN 0 900857 19 6
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012), Railway Atlas Then and Now, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 978 0 7110 3695 6^[1]
• Sweeney, Dennis (2013). The Wigan Junction Railways. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-09550030-5-9.

External links

• The station via Disused Stations UK
• Wigan Central via Disused Stations UK
• The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
• The station on a 1888-1913 OS map via National Library of Scotland
• The line and mileages via railwaycodes

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Wigan Darlington Street Line and station closed		Great Central Railway Wigan Junction Railways		Hindley South Line and station closed
Wigan Central Line and station closed

1. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45