Rainford railway station

Rainford railway station is situated to the north of the village of Rainford, Merseyside, England. It is on the Kirkby branch line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern Trains.

"Rainford Junction" redirects here. For the settlement known as Rainford Junction, surrounding the station, see Rainford.

Rainford
Location
PlaceRainford
Local authoritySt Helens
Coordinates53.517°N 2.789°W / 53.517; -2.789
Grid referenceSD478025
Operations
Station codeRNF
Managed byNorthern Trains
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 49,570
2015/16 47,464
2016/17 46,274
2017/18 55,352
2018/19 34,690
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEMerseytravel
ZoneA2
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Rainford from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History
A 1908 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (lower right) railways in the vicinity of Rainford

It was built in 1858 as Rainford Junction[1] at the junction of the Liverpool and Bury Railway, the East Lancashire Railway's Skelmersdale Branch and the St. Helens Railway, replacing an earlier station (1848) called Rainford. The main line and Skelmersdale branch were taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1859, whilst the St Helens line became part of the London and North Western Railway in 1864. The former L&BR route was subsequently upgraded by the L&YR to become its main line between Liverpool and Manchester, carrying expresses to Manchester Victoria, Bradford Exchange and Leeds Central as well as local trains to Wigan Wallgate and Bolton until after the nationalisation of the railways in 1948 and well beyond.

Services on the line to St Helens were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission on 18 June 1951 and to Ormskirk on 5 November 1956,[2] although goods traffic survived on both until the early 1960s.

Through trains from Liverpool Exchange to Bolton via Wigan continued until 1977, though the line from here westwards to Fazakerley had been reduced to single track operation in May 1970.[3] After the closure of Exchange in May 1977, the line was severed at Kirkby, with through passengers having to change between diesel and electric services there to continue their journeys. The station signal box was retained to supervise the 5 1⁄4 miles (8.4 km) single line section to what was now the terminus of the branch – this remains in operation today and is now the only one left on the line.

The station was renamed Rainford on 7 May 1973.

Facilities

Though the station had sizeable buildings on both platforms at one time, the last of these (on the Wigan-bound platform) was demolished in the late 1990s.[3] There are now just basic shelters in place on each side, along with a footbridge to connect them. The disused branch platform faces are still visible, but heavily overgrown. The station is unmanned and has no ticket facilities, so all tickets must be bought in advance or on the train. Train running information can be obtained by telephone or from timetable poster boards on each platform. Step-free access is available on both platforms via ramps from the nearby road.[4]

Services

Trains operate to Kirkby (for connections to Liverpool Central) in one direction and to Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate and Walkden in the other, usually every hour (Monday to Saturday). The last train of the day continues to Todmorden and Blackburn.[5]

There is no late evening service after 19:57 or on a Sunday. A normal service operates on most bank holidays.

Notes
  1. Butt, p.193
  2. Marshall, p.156
  3. '"Disused Stations - Rainford Junction"Disused Stations; Retrieved 25 March 2016
  4. Rainford station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 21 December 2016
  5. GB eNRT December 2019 Edition, Table 82
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References
  • Marshall, J. (1981) Forgotten Railways North-West England, David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995) Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Yeovil. ISBN 1-85260-508-1
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Kirkby   Northern Trains
Kirkby Branch Line		   Upholland
Disused railways
Hey's Crossing Halt   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Skelmersdale Branch		   Terminus
Rainford Village   LNWR
St. Helens Railway		   Terminus
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