Westhoughton railway station

Westhoughton
Westhoughton railway station in 2015
Location
Place	Westhoughton
Local authority	Bolton
Grid reference	SD654067
Operations
Station code	WHG
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*
2004/05	91,054
2005/06	107,253
2006/07	118,458
2007/08	138,863
2008/09	161,534
2009/10	175,710
2010/11	197,650
2011/12	210,354
2012/13	217,910
2013/14	226,390
2014/15	230,974
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Transport for Greater Manchester
History
Key dates	Opened 1848
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Westhoughton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Westhoughton railway station is one of the two stations which serve the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, north-western England. The station is 15 ¹⁄₂ miles (24.9 km) north west of Manchester Piccadilly.

History

It is the only station located on a connecting line between the Manchester-Preston Line at Bolton and the Manchester-Southport Line at Hindley near Wigan. It was opened in 1848, along with the line, by the Liverpool and Bury Railway, when the route between the two via Wigan and Bolton was completed. It subsequently became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's system.

The station is located in Church Street, about ten minutes' walk from the town centre. The town of Westhoughton is also served by Daisy Hill railway station, which is around 15 minutes on foot from the centre of Westhoughton and is situated on the Manchester-Southport Line, via Atherton.

Unlike the town's other station at Daisy Hill, Westhoughton station has been unstaffed since 1974, when all the track-side and road-side buildings were demolished. This is despite the fact that Westhoughton enjoyed similar levels of patronage (see usage figures right). From 2004 to 2012 passenger usage increased by some 231%.^[1] The station's passenger usage seems set to grow further, as there has been considerable housing development on brownfield land, which was the site of a mine, within a few hundred yards of the station. Indeed, the town continues to grow, overall, as a commuter suburb.^[2]

In the late 1980s, Westhoughton very nearly had a new third station at Dobb Brow, and planning went as far as allowing the proposed station to appear on railway maps as "may open during the course of this timetable". At the last moment, however, plans were shelved. In 2000, these plans were revived, but did not come to fruition.^[3]

As of 2008, unspecified development was planned for the station as part of GMPTE's plans to impose a congestion charge on drivers entering Manchester City Centre at peak-times, and use the funds raised to upgrade public transport provision. The scheme was dropped after the proposal was substantially rejected in a December 2008 referendum.^[4]

Location and facilities

As noted above, the station is unstaffed. There are neither toilet nor refreshment facilities, nor a pay phone since 2011. However, a card-only ticket machine and "remote travel information" have been provided recently, by means of screens on each platform.

Until 2013 there was a long-established public house, The Commercial, right next door to the station. As of 2013, the pub is closed and for sale. There is a newsagent opposite the station.

There are bus stops for services to many parts of the town, and to the town's other station: Daisy Hill.

Access to the Bolton platform is by a long steep multi-stepped ramp and to the Wigan platform via a steep unstepped ramp.^[5] Access to both platforms has not been improved for those with prams, pushchairs or wheelchairs.

There is a large free car-park with convenient, although un-signposted, access to the station.

The station is partly maintained by the "Friends of Westhoughton Station" voluntary group. The group was set up in 2012 with the aim of brightening up the station and providing floral displays.^[6][7]

Services

A Northern Class 150, with a service to Wigan Wallgate in 2015

A Northern Class 150, with a service to Bolton in 2015

For many years Westhoughton had an hourly service.^[8] Since the 1980s services have dramatically improved:

During the daytime from Monday to Saturday, there are two trains per hour westbound to Wigan Wallgate, with one onwards to Southport, and an hourly service to both Manchester Airport via Piccadilly, with limited stops between Bolton and Salford Crescent, and to Manchester Victoria, which stops at most local stations.^[9]

Regular through services to Liverpool via Wallgate and Kirkby once operated via Bolton/Westhoughton, which originally formed part of the Liverpool and Bury Railway and also the L&Y main line between Liverpool Exchange and Manchester, prior to the opening of the direct route through Swinton. However, since the western end of the route was electrified in 1978, Kirkby trains have either terminated at Wigan or been re-routed via Atherton. Liverpool-bound passengers thus now have to either change stations in Wigan or change twice en route, except at weekday peak times when a few trains run to/from Wigan North Western. All through trains, which continued onwards to St Helens and Liverpool Lime Street, ended at the 2008 winter timetable change.

On evenings and Sundays there is an hourly service to Southport and to Manchester Piccadilly and beyond. For many years there was no Sunday service.

Trains continuing to Bolton pass by, but cannot stop at, Lostock (Junction) station, as there are no platforms for the Wigan line. Passengers wishing to travel from Westhoughton to Preston and Blackpool must either change at Wigan Wallgate, usually crossing the road to Wigan North Western, a 100 yards walk, or via Bolton. Connections to London Euston can be made at Wigan, which is recommended as there is always only one change, or at Manchester Piccadilly.

Between May & December 2015, the service pattern was altered temporarily due to the work being carried out to widen Farnworth Tunnel as part of the plans to electrify the Manchester to Preston Line. With only limited capacity south of Bolton, Manchester services were reduced to an hourly frequency, and curtailed at Bolton on Monday to Fridays, whilst weekend services were replaced by buses as Bolton station was also undergoing upgrade work for electrification. A peak hour bus shuttle to and from Daisy Hill was introduced to connect with those trains that had been diverted via Walkden, whilst westbound trains ran to Kirkby once again rather than Southport.^[10] This timetable ended in December 2015, when the line through Farnworth Tunnel was reopened.

References

1. "ORR Station Usage Statistics". Office of Rail and Road.
2. "Westhoughton". swanonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2006.
3. "BEN OPINION: Top priority on the trains". The Bolton News. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
4. "Voters reject congestion charge". BBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
5. "Westhoughton Station Plan". National Rail. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
6. "Who we are". Friends of Westhoughton Station. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
7. "New-look for Westhoughton railway station". MyWesthoughton. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
8. BR Timetable 1973, table 95
9. Northern Rail Timetable 14 Manchester & Manchester Airport to Southport and Kirkby 13 Dec 2015 - 14 May 2016 Northern Rail; Retrieved 15-12-2015
10. "Timetable 14 - Manchester to Southport, 2 May - 4 October 2015" (PDF). Northern Rail. Retrieved 20 June 2015.

External links

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

Coordinates: 53°33′21″N 2°31′24″W / 53.5558°N 2.5233°W