New Lane railway station

New Lane railway station serves the rural communities and farming villages around New Lane in West Lancashire, in the north-west of England. It is served and managed by Northern Trains and is situated near the Martin Mere bird sanctuary, which can be reached by a 1-mile walk.

For the proposed High Speed 2 railway station in Leeds, see Leeds New Lane railway station.

New Lane
New Lane railway station in 2015.
Location
Place	Burscough
Local authority	West Lancashire
Coordinates	53.611°N 2.868°W / 53.611; -2.868
Grid reference	SD427131
Operations
Station code	NLN
Managed by	Northern Trains
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	6,660
2015/16	8,184
2016/17	6,860
2017/18	3,786
2018/19	2,248
History
Original company	Manchester and Southport Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
9 April 1855	Opened[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at New Lane from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The main stone-built station building survives adjacent to the Wigan-bound platform, but is now in use for non-railway purposes (as a private house), modest shelters now being provided on both platforms for rail travellers.

History

The station was built by the Manchester and Southport Railway and opened on 9 April 1855, and from January 1885 was part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The main stone-built station building (no longer in use) was built during this time, in the standard L&YR style (albeit on a smaller scale compared with Burscough Bridge). The L&YR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail. Like neighbouring Bescar Lane, the station here formerly had its level crossing manually operated from a nearby signal box and both platforms on the same side of the crossing.[2] The present staggered arrangement was introduced when the box was abolished and automatic half barriers installed in the early 1990s.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has a ticket machine, tickets can be purchased on the train or prior to travel. Timetable posters and a telephone are provided to give train running information. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[3]

Services

Trains run to Southport and Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate every two hours (with some peak extras).[4] Most eastbound trains continue to Stalybridge.

The last service to Southport is at 21:24 hours with the last service towards Wigan Wallgate and Manchester stations being at 22:32. There is no Sunday service, though a normal service operates on most bank holidays.

References

1. 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. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
2. New Lane Station in 1972 Images of Burscough; Retrieved 19 December 2016
3. New Lane station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 19 December 2016
4. Table 82 National Rail timetable, December 2019

External links

• Media related to New Lane railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for New Lane railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Bescar Lane		Northern Trains Manchester-Southport Line		Burscough Bridge