Kearsley railway station

Kearsley
National Rail
Kearsley railway station in 2018
General information
LocationKearsley, Bolton
England
Grid referenceSD752054
Managed byNorthern
Transit authorityGreater Manchester
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeKSL
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companyManchester, Bolton and Bury Railway
Pre-groupingLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
29 May 1838 (1838-05-29)Station opened as Ringley
1838Renamed Stoneclough
7 February 1894Renamed Kearsley and Stoneclough
February 1903Renamed Kearsley
Passengers
2019/20Increase 51,488
2020/21Decrease 12,940
2021/22Increase 40,976
2022/23Increase 48,408
2023/24Increase 52,174
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Kearsley railway station serves the town of Kearsley and the outlying villages of Stoneclough, Prestolee and Ringley in Greater Manchester, England. It was originally named Stoneclough.[1][2]

It lies on the Manchester-Preston Line 7+34 miles (12.5 km) north of Manchester Victoria, though only local services run by Northern Trains stop here.

The station was staffed until the early 1990s, however the arson attacking of the station building just below platform level saw an end to this arrangement. In the spring of 2015, the station's pedestrian rail crossing was replaced by a footbridge and the platforms rebuilt as part of modernisation work to electrify the line and raise line speeds to 100 mph.

Facilities

A Northern Class 156 at Kearsley's Manchester-bound platform, prior to completion of electrification works.

The station is unmanned, however, there is a ticket machine on the Bolton-bound platform that allows passengers to pay for a ticket by card. Passengers wishing to pay by cash can use these machines to obtain a ‘Promise to Pay’ ticket. There are simple waiting shelters on each platform, with train running information provided by telephone and timetable posters. Step free access is available to both platforms via Station Road. However, passengers coming from Stoneclough village would have to walk further to access these facilities.[3]

Services

There is an hourly service northbound to Bolton and Southport and southbound to Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge throughout the day Mondays to Saturdays.[4] Evening trains began stopping here at the May 2018 timetable change, but ongoing electrification work on the Manchester to Preston route saw all weekend trains replaced by buses for most of 2017–18; electric service eventually starting on Monday 11 February 2019 initially utilising Class 319 electric multiple units[5] (though the Wigan to Manchester trains serving the station are still diesel operated).

There is no Sunday service.

21st century upgrade and electrification

In 2009, Andrew Adonis in a government paper, proposed infill electrification schemes in the North West of England.[6][7] After a spending review, in July 2012 the Coalition government announced 25 kV AC railway electrification reconfirming the scheme previously announced by Adonis.[8] Amongst schemes announced for electrification were Manchester - Euxton Junction through Kearsley railway station and thence to Euxton Junction.[9][10][11] The project also called for a major civil engineering project to rebore the Farnworth tunnel on the line in advance of electrification.


References

  1. ^ Love 1839, p. 234
  2. ^ Bradshaw's Railway Monthly
  3. ^ Kearsley station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 9 December 2016
  4. ^ Table 82 National Rail timetable, December 2019
  5. ^ McDonnell, Seamus (14 February 2019). "First electric trains are a 'new dawn' for Bolton commuters | The Bolton News". The Bolton News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. ^ Adonis, Andrew (July 2009). "Britain's Transport Infrastructure Rail Electrification" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Railway lines to be electrified". 14 December 2009. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  8. ^ "High Level Output Specification (HLOS) CP5" (PDF). UK Government. July 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Rail Electrification briefing paper" (PDF). UK Government. 27 July 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  10. ^ Miles, Tony (September 2013). Abbott (ed.). "North West Wiring". Modern Railways. 70 (780). Key Publishing: 52–59.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ "Electrification in the North - Network Rail". 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2022.

Bibliography

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Farnworth   Northern Trains
Manchester–Preston line
  Clifton
  Historical railways  
Farnworth
Line and station open
  Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Manchester and Bolton Railway
  Dixon Fold
Line open, station closed

53°32′41″N 2°22′32″W / 53.5446°N 2.3755°W / 53.5446; -2.3755