Hindley railway station

Hindley railway station serves the area of Hindley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, England.

Hindley
Hindley railway station in 2015
Location
Place	Hindley
Local authority	Wigan
Coordinates	53.5424°N 2.5750°W / 53.5424; -2.5750
Grid reference	SD619052
Operations
Station code	HIN
Managed by	Northern Trains
Number of platforms	2 (in use)
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.331 million
– Interchange	17,880
2015/16	0.333 million
– Interchange	18,822
2016/17	0.346 million
– Interchange	20,793
2017/18	0.310 million
– Interchange	26,099
2018/19	0.295 million
– Interchange	100,359
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
History
Original company	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
20 November 1848 (1848-11-20)	Opened as Hindley
1 July 1950	Renamed Hindley North
6 May 1968	Renamed Hindley
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hindley from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Hindley is one of the principal stations that lie on the Wigan to Manchester line, just before the route branches to use either the Atherton line or the Eastern Branch line via Westhoughton and Bolton. The station is located 14 miles (23 km) west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Trains services to these towns as well as Salford, Swinton and Walkden, with onward trains to Kirkby and Southport. Hindley is one of the nearest stations to Aspull, although (from 2013) there is no direct bus link, the 559 bus having been withdrawn between Hindley and Aspull.

The station is situated some distance (about ¾ mile) from the centre of the town. Figures (to June 2008) showed that usage increased year-on year by 9%, with a further healthy increase for 2007/8, which continues. Interchange passengers (changing from the Atherton line to reach Bolton) amounted to around 13,000 further passengers annually. Figures (right) demonstrate that usage more than doubled from 2004 to 2011, with a further 17% increase from 2011 to 2012,and 13% from 2012 to 2013.

History

This station was opened on 20 November 1848 and was originally named Hindley. It was renamed Hindley North on 1 July 1950 to differentiate it from Hindley South station on the line from Wigan Central to Glazebrook. Hindley South closed in November 1964, and Hindley North was renamed Hindley on 6 May 1968.[1][2] There were also stations serving Hindley at Platt Bridge and at Hindley Green (both closed in 1961) on the line from Wigan North Western to Manchester Exchange, the residual "fast local" and express passenger service ceasing on 1 January 1968.[3]

At Hindley there are now two platforms in use, with the overgrown remains of two further platforms (for the fast lines taken out of use on 21 November 1965.)

Facilities

The car park has been enlarged but passenger numbers have increased so that it is probably in need of further enlargement. The station is manned on a part-time basis, with the booking office open from the start of service until early afternoon. Outside these hours, tickets must be bought in advance or on the train.[4] The station is not accessible for disabled travellers (as both platforms can only be accessed via stairs or stepped ramps) and has passenger information screens on each platform, along with an automated public address system to offer train running details.

Friends of Hindley Station

The garden on platform 1

There is now a "Friends of Hindley Station" group, formed in 2007, whose aim is to promote the use of the station by improvements. The group have had several weekend clearing sessions. During one such session a large nameplaque made of stones on the station banking was uncovered. The results objectively can be considered spectacular, evidenced by the number of "in bloom" and landscaping awards won.[5] Also, partially as a result of their input, there was a direct link to Manchester Airport from December 2008.[6] This ended at the May 2018 timetable change and intending travellers now have to change at Manchester Piccadilly or Salford Crescent to reach the airport.

Services

There are three trains per hour to Manchester Victoria during Monday to Saturday daytimes (with extra calls at peak periods) - two via Atherton and one via Bolton (serving most local stations south of there). Some of them continue onward to Todmorden and then either Blackburn or Stalybridge, whilst there is one train each hour to Manchester Piccadilly and Alderley Edge via Bolton. Most Leeds-bound trains run through without calling.

In the opposite direction there are four trains each hour to Wigan, with an hourly service to Kirkby and two per hour to Southport via Wallgate and one that terminates at Wigan North Western. During the evenings there are two services to Manchester (one on each route) and to Wigan, of which one extends to Southport (there are no services to Kirkby after 18:30).[7] From December 2019, most services to Wigan will run via or terminate at Wallgate, with just a few early morning and evening trains to North Western. Services to/from Southport will run predominantly via Bolton, save for a small number of peak and late evening workings via Atherton.[8]

On Sundays there are two trains each hour to Manchester Victoria via Atherton and two trains per hour to Wigan (hourly beyond to Southport). Weekend services via Bolton were suspended and replaced by buses due to the ongoing (and seriously delayed) work to electrify the Manchester to Preston Line until the end of 2018, but have now resumed. These operate to Wigan N.W and Victoria once per hour.

See also

• Crow Nest Junction

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 120, 121. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Disused Railway Stations
3. Marshall, J (1981) Forgotten Railways North-West England, David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p.138
4. Hindley station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 20 December 2016
5. "Garden Awards". Friends of Hindley Station. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
6. "Hindley Station has friends!". Manchester Transport Sucks. 10 December 2007.
7. Table 82 National Rail timetable, December 2019
8. Northern Timetable 14 - Manchester to Southport and Kirkby Northern; retrieved 21 November 2019

External links

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wigan Wallgate		Northern Trains Southport - Alderley Edge via Bolton		Westhoughton
Ince
Wigan Wallgate		Northern Trains Southport - Stalybridge via Bolton
Ince		Northern Trains Kirkby - Manchester Victoria		Daisy Hill
Wigan North Western		Northern Trains Wigan North Western - Blackburn
Ince
Wigan Wallgate		Northern Trains Wigan Wallgate - Leeds (Limited service)
Ince