Todmorden railway station

Todmorden railway station is in West Yorkshire, England, originally on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. It was built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway and is on the Calder Valley Line 23 miles (37 km) west of Leeds and 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Manchester Victoria.

"Todmorden station" redirects here. For the Australian cattle farm, see Todmorden Station (pastoral lease).

Todmorden
The view from platform 2
Location
PlaceTodmorden
Local authorityCalderdale
Coordinates53.7138°N 2.0997°W / 53.7138; -2.0997
Grid referenceSD935241
Operations
Station codeTOD
Managed byNorthern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryD
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.563 million
2015/16 0.585 million
2016/17 0.607 million
2017/18 0.624 million
2018/19 0.636 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEWest Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone5
History
Key datesOpened 1841 (1841)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Todmorden from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It was opened in March 1841 when the final portion of M&L main line between Manchester and Normanton through Summit Tunnel was completed. It became a junction in 1849 with the opening of a branch line westwards through the Cliviger Gorge to Burnley. This was later extended to join the East Lancashire Railway near Rose Grove, giving a direct route to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool.

For many years the station was served by express trains between Liverpool and York and local trains toward Preston, Bradford and Leeds, but since the Beeching cuts in the 1960s the basic service has been a local one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. In May 2015, a service from Manchester to Blackburn via Burnley began using the station.

Todmorden Curve

Todmorden station is located by a triangular junction between the lines to Manchester, Burnley and Halifax, with the station itself located on the line towards Manchester. From 1972 until 2015, there was no link between the Manchester and Burnley lines. Railway passengers wishing to travel between Manchester and Burnley had to change at Hebden Bridge or Blackburn.

The station was formerly served by local trains to/from Rose Grove and Preston, which were withdrawn in 1965 (the bay platform they once used can still be seen). The short curve that allowed trains to travel between the Manchester and Burnley was removed in 1972 when the line was re-signalled. Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.

A project to reinstate the Manchester-Burnley curve was first proposed in 2009,[1] although it was not until the end of 2011 that the finance was finally secured as part of the Regional Growth Fund initiative announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.[2] As first built, the curve ran from a junction approximately 66 feet (20 m) north-east of the viaduct 550 yards (500 m) and connected on to the Copy Pit line at Stanfield Hall Junction, near the footbridge on Stansfield Road (the remains of the curve can still be seen from this bridge).

In 2012 Network Rail began clearing the trackbed of vegetation and investigating the alignment. This assessment concluded that it could be feasible to reinstate the curve, using a slightly less sharp alignment than the original curve. Construction began in summer 2013, with the curve originally planned to be in use from the May 2014 timetable change,[3] delayed from the originally mooted date of the end of 2013,[4] allowing through trains to run from Burnley to Manchester Victoria in less than one hour. Services were delayed due to a lack of available rolling stock and signalling work running behind schedule, and instead began at the May 2015 timetable change.[5][6]

In addition to the work to lay in new track on the curve itself and a completely new junction at the Todmorden end, significant alterations to the signalling system have been required to allow trains to use the new curve (these were only fully completed in February 2015, which is why the curve could only be used by Burnley-bound trains when the curve was first brought into service). The area is controlled from Preston Power Signal Box. The first train to use the newly commissioned connection was an enthusiasts' charter operated by Pathfinder Tours on 31 May 2014.[7] A regular service began using the curve in May 2015.[8]

Services
The exterior of the station

Until 12 December 2008, Monday to Saturday daytime there was a half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via Halifax eastbound.

Service changes from December 2008

Northern Rail made changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour now run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - the stopping service that ran prior to the timetable change, calling at all stations via Halifax; via Dewsbury and Brighouse, stopping at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton; and a limited stop service between Bradford and Manchester, calling at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale only.[9]

There is an hourly service to Leeds (via Halifax) in the evenings and two trains per hour to Manchester in the evenings and on Sundays.

From the May 2014 timetable change the station gained an additional service each hour to and from the Manchester direction, which was extended to and from Burnley and Blackburn in May 2015. This working formerly terminated at Rochdale; it ran through from Kirkby eastbound and returned to Wigan Wallgate.[10]

Services from May 2015

In May 2015, a direct service from Manchester to Burnley & Blackburn began calling at the station.[11][12]

May 2019 timetable

The summer 2019 timetable has four services per hour calling here on weekdays and Saturdays - two between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford (one of which now runs to Chester via Warrington Bank Quay), one from Leeds to Manchester and Southport via Brighouse and one from Blackburn to Manchester and Southport via Burnley. On Sundays, there is one Leeds - Bradford - Manchester train and one between Blackburn and Southport via Manchester each hour in both directions.[13]

December 2019 timetable

The basic service frequency remains the same in the 2019 winter timetable. However changes have been made.

Southport services now terminate at Wigan Wallgate.

The hourly Sunday service between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Halifax no longer calls at Mytholmroyd.[14]

Future services

Under plans submitted by the new Northern franchisee, further service improvements on the Caldervale line were to be introduced in December 2017 (since postponed until May 2019 due to a rolling stock shortage). These include an extra train per hour from Todmorden to both Manchester & Bradford/Leeds during the day, extra evening services on all routes and new through services to Chester, Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street (marketed under the "Northern Connect" brand).[15][16] The Chester service was introduced at the May 2019 timetable change, but the other improvements have been indefinitely postponed because of capacity constraints at the various junctions in the Castlefield/Ordsall Lane area of Manchester.

Facilities

There is a ticket office on platform 1 (staffed seven days per week, but closed in the late evening) and waiting rooms on both platforms. Information screens were installed in 2012 as part of a programme to provide screens at 18 stations on the Caldervale line and elsewhere in West Yorkshire.[17] Previously, passengers had to rely on automated public-address system announcements (these are still provided). Step-free access is only available from platform one, as the subway to platform two has steps.[18]

Platform One Gallery is located at the station, an art gallery run by Todmorden Art Group, which is a non profit making organisation. It runs exhibitions on a 4-weekly cycle, and is open to the public Thursday-Sunday 11 am-4 pm. It has 11 studios and 2 painting groups.

The station building features a plaque commemorating John Ramsbottom (engineer) who was born in the town and spent most of his career working for the local railways (LNWR and LYR).

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References

Notes
  1. "Green Light for East Lancashire Rail Improvements". Lancashire Telegraph. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  2. Magill, Peter (31 October 2011). "Major boost as £9million rail link cash announced for Burnley". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  3. "Todmorden Curve journeys to start after May 2014". Lancashire Telegraph. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  4. "Todmorden Curve could be Running by 2013". Lancashire Telegraph. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. Lack of Trains to hold up new £8.8 million Todmorden Curve Magill, Peter Lancashire Telegraph article 23 October 2013; Retrieved 23 January 2014
  6. East Lancs MP slams Todmorden Curve Rail Link Delays Adams, Chris Lancashire Telegraph article 13 August 2014; Retrieved 21 August 2014
  7. The Topper Chopper - First passenger train: Todmorden Viaduct Junction - Stansfield Hall Junction, Saturday 31 May 2014 www.hall-royd-junction.co.uk; Retrieved 16 June 2014
  8. BBC - Rail link reopens from Manchester to Burnley
  9. "WYPTE Report - Proposed Northern December 2008 Timetable" (PDF). 16 May 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  10. Northern Rail Timetable 26 Todmorden - Rochdale - Manchester 18 May - 13 December 2014Northern Rail; Retrieved 16 June 2014
  11. Direct trains from Rochdale and Manchester to Burnley will run from May 17 Thacker, Simon; Manchester Evening News article 17 February 2015; Retrieved 6 March 2015
  12. Northern Rail timetable - Manchester Victoria to Blackburn via Todmorden from 17 May 2015 Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback MachineNorthern Rail; Retrieved 20 May 2015
  13. Table 41 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  14. Table 41 National Rail timetable, December 2019
  15. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT
  16. Arriva chosen to run and expand Northern franchise from next year Rail Technology Magazine; Retrieved 17 December 2015
  17. "Customer Information Enhancements at Rail Stations". Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  18. Todmorden station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016

Sources
  • Bairstow, M. (1983), The Manchester & Leeds Railway (The Calder Valley Line), Wyvern Publishing, Skipton, ISBN 0-907941-06-0
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Walsden   Northern
Caldervale Line		   Hebden Bridge or
Terminus
Littleborough    
Rochdale    
Walsden or
Littleborough or
Rochdale		   Northern
Todmorden-Wigan Wallgate/Kirkby		   Terminus
Walsden   Northern
via Todmorden Curve		   Burnley Manchester Road
  Historical railways  
Walsden
Line and station open		   L&YR
Caldervale Line		   Eastwood
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Stansfield Hall
Line open,station closed		   L&YR
Copy Pit Line		   Terminus
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