Accrington railway station

Accrington railway station serves the town of Accrington in Lancashire, England. It is a station on the East Lancashire Line 6 ¹⁄₄ miles (10.1 km) east of Blackburn railway station operated by Northern.

Accrington
Location
Place	Accrington
Local authority	Hyndburn
Grid reference	SD757285
Operations
Station code	ACR
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.382 million
2015/16	0.434 million
2016/17	0.460 million
2017/18	0.459 million
2018/19	0.423 million
History
Original company	East Lancashire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
19 June 1848	Station opens
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Accrington from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It is also served by Caldervale Line express services between Blackpool North, York and Leeds.

History

The station was opened on 10 June 1848 by the East Lancashire Railway,[1] which amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1859. Taken into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, the line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The station was formerly a major junction on the ELR, with the line to Bury and Salford diverging southwards from that towards Blackburn and Preston at the western end of the station, just before the impressive viaduct that carries the line over the town centre.

This was, for many years, a busy commuter route carrying regular trains from Skipton and Colne to Manchester Victoria, but it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in the sixties and closed to passengers on 5 December 1966.[2] Few traces of this route remain today, the formation through the town (including part of the notorious 1 in 40 Baxenden Bank) having been built over.

When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Regional Railways until the Privatisation of British Railways.

In April 2006, the body of a dead man was found slumped on the platform, thus closing the station for twelve hours.[3] In July 2006, it was reported the dead man was in a very drunk state.[4] In February 2008, another dead body of a man was found on the station.[5]

Buildings and structures

The station has two side platforms, flanking the twin-track railway line. Other than three small shelters (two on platform 2 and one on platform one) there is no protection from the elements; indeed, even with the recent improvements, the whole impression is one of a basic halt. It offers disabled access via ramps adjacent to the platforms.

In 2011, the station underwent a major rebuild, as part of a project to create a model of sustainable energy use for a railway station. This redevelopment cost £2 million, of which £500,000 was funded by the European Union's Interreg IVB programme. The previously existing ticket office has been demolished, and was replaced by a new build and constructed, where possible, with local materials including recycled stone. The building uses a rainwater harvesting system, photovoltaic cells and solar hot water generation panels on the new tower.[6]

Services

There is an hourly service from Accrington to Blackpool North via Preston (westbound) and York (eastbound) on the Caldervale Line.This now also runs hourly on Sundays since the May 2009 timetable change,[7] though it was suspended beyond Burnley (with a replacement bus connection to/from Hebden Bridge) due to ongoing engineering work at Holme Tunnel between November 2013 and late March 2014.

These call at Blackburn, Preston, Poulton-Le-Flyde and Blackpool North westbound and Burnley Manchester Road, Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Bradford Interchange, New Pudsey, Leeds, Church Fenton and York eastbound. Through trains to York restarted in December 2018 (these now run express east of Leeds, calling only at Church Fenton).

On the East Lancashire Line, Monday to Saturday daytimes, there is an hourly service from Accrington to Preston (westbound) and Colne (eastbound). There was also a solitary Mon to Fri morning commuter service from Colne to Manchester Victoria that formerly called here, along with a corresponding return working during the evening. This was however withdrawn at the May 2009 timetable change[8] (it was diverted to run to Clitheroe instead).

There is an hourly service in each direction on Sundays, with through running to and from Blackpool South. These call at all stops (except Salwick), including the major stations of Preston, Blackburn and Burnley Central.

From May 2015, direct services to Manchester Victoria have resumed (after a gap of almost fifty years) with the reopening of the Todmorden Curve.[9] These start at Blackburn and continue onwards through Burnley Manchester Road, using the Caldervale Line south of Todmorden to reach Rochdale and Manchester. An hourly service each way operates on this route throughout the week.[10] Most of these trains continue beyond Manchester, to Wigan Wallgate and Southport[11]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Church and Oswaldtwistle		Northern East Lancashire Line		Huncoat
Blackburn		Northern Caldervale Line		Burnley Manchester Road
	Disused railways
Church and Oswaldtwistle Line and station open		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway		Baxenden Line and station closed
Huncoat Line and station open

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Marshall, J. (1981): pp. 40
3. "Mystery body is found at station". accringtonobserver.co.uk. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
4. "Station body man was very drunk". accringtonobserver.co.uk. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
5. "Body found at railway station". lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
6. Morant, Andrew (12 January 2011). "Welcome to Acc-green-ton". Rail Magazine (661). Bauer Media Group. pp. 54–57.
7. Northern Rail Timetable 8 - York to Blackpool 17 May - 12 December 2009 Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Northern Rail website; retrieved 2009-06-24
8. Northern Rail Timetable 9 - Colne to Preston & Blackpool 17 May - 12 December 2009 Archived 24 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Northern Rail website; retrieved 2009-05-08
9. Magill, P. "New Manchester Route will Revive Burnley Branch Station]". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
10. Northern Rail timetable - Manchester Victoria to Blackburn via Todmorden from 17 May 2015 Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback MachineNorthern Rail; Retrieved 20 May 2015
11. Table 82 National Rail timetable, December 2018

Bibliography

• 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Marshall, J. (1981) Forgotten Railways: North-West England, David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6

External links

• Train times and station information for Accrington railway station from National Rail
• Interactive plan of the station
• Station on navigable O.S. map