Lostock Hall railway station
Lostock Hall Northern | |
---|---|
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Station code | LOH |
Classification | DfT category F2 |
Key dates | |
1846 | first station opened |
6 October 1969 | closed |
May 1984 | present station opened |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 31,138 |
2019/20 | 38,602 |
2020/21 | 9,074 |
2021/22 | 24,042 |
2022/23 | 25,434 |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Lostock Hall railway station is a railway station serving the village of
History
The first railway in the area was the Blackburn & Preston Railway, which opened its route from
The ELR Preston Extension was finally opened to traffic on 2 September 1850
By 1877 traffic demands had reached the point that the 2-road depot adjacent to the junction was deemed inadequate by the L&Y and work on a new, much larger facility began. This was built on a site between the LO&P and B&P lines immediately south of the passenger station and was opened in 1881, with the old depot then becoming a carriage and wagon repair shop. The new shed would become the L&Y's main loco servicing facility for the entire Preston area (and beyond) and in due course the volume of traffic utilising it and the routes it served became so great that additional trackwork improvements had to be made to alleviate matters. These began with the re-opening of the Farington line in 1886, with the junction there altered to face south rather than north as previously, followed by the construction of two new connections between the East Lancs line and the newly quadrupled (and by now jointly owned) main line from Wigan north of where the two lines crossed each other. The first of these (from west to north) was commissioned in 1891 as part of the main line upgrade works,[4] whilst the second (east to north) followed in May 1908, creating a second triangular junction to the west of the station and a second route to Preston.[1] This complex network of lines allowed for considerable operational flexibility in the years that followed, as both full trains and light locomotives could be routed from there towards either side of Preston station without conflicting with the main line. It was also possible for trains from the north heading towards Blackpool or vice versa to be routed through Lostock Hall to avoid the need for an awkward and time-consuming reversal manoeuvre at Preston station and this became a regular feature of the timetable at peak times during the summer months right up until the closure of the East Lancs side of Preston station in 1972.
The lines would pass briefly into the hands of the
By the 1960s, the loco shed was still a busy location and would remain so right up until the end of steam on the UK rail network in August 1968. The station and LO&PR line by contrast were amongst those planned for closure in the 1963
Services over the ex-ELR Preston extension from the Bamber Bridge direction finally ended in the autumn of 1972, when the line was closed (as a result of the Preston area re-signalling scheme) along with the remaining manual signal boxes in the area[6] (though a short section remained in use for freight to Lostock Hall gas works until 1977). East Lancashire line trains were thereafter routed via the original 1846/49 lines as far as Lostock Hall, then over the 1908 connection to reach the WCML.
The loco depot eventually lost its role as a maintenance facility in 1971, thereafter taking over the role of its predecessor further east as the area carriage and wagon repair shops. It closed altogether in 1988 and was finally demolished in January 1990. The adjacent Lostock Hall Jcn to Farington Jcn line (which has not had a timetabled passenger service since 1850) is still open and sees use by a variety of freight services heading to and from the S&C route and occasional diverted passenger trains and railtours. Part of the old Preston extension route is now a footpath and cycle way, whilst another portion has been utilised for road improvements.
The current station
By the early 1980s, local pressure for a station to serve the Lostock Hall area had become considerable and so on 14 May 1984 a new station was opened on the opposite side of the Watkin Lane bridge by British Rail with financial backing from Lancashire County Council.
The new facility was (and still is) quite basic – there are waiting shelters, a long-line P.A system and passenger information screens on each concrete platform. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[7]
As of January 2018 along with other stations on this line, a modern touch screen ticket machine was added to the Station.
Services
Monday to Saturdays, there is an hourly service from Lostock Hall towards Preston westbound and Blackburn, Burnley and Colne eastbound.[8] There is a two-hourly service in each direction on Sundays, with through running to Blackpool South. In addition there are two additional morning peak services from York and Leeds to Preston that call here, and one extra service in the evening in the opposite direction to Blackburn and York.
Direct bus services between Chorley, Leyland and Preston and beyond run through Lostock Hall on a much more frequent service.
Notes
- ^ a b "Railway Development in Preston" Greville, M.D & Holt, G.O Railway Magazine 1960, pp 197-203; Retrieved 21 November 2016
- ^ Lostock Hall station (Original Site) Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org; Retrieved 2013-10-30
- ^ Marshall. p.39
- ^ Suggitt, p.59
- ^ Marshall, p.143
- ^ Preston Signalling Ingham, D Preston Station, Past and Present; Retrieved 21 November 2016
- ^ Lostock Hall station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 25 November 2016
- ^ GB National Rail Timetable May 2023 Edition, Table 105
References
- Marshall, J (1981). Forgotten Railways North-West England. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6.
- Suggitt, G (2003). Lost Railways of Lancashire. Countryside Books, Newbury. ISBN 1-85306-801-2.
External links
- Train times and station information for Lostock Hall railway station from National Rail
- Lostock Hall MPD (engine shed)
- Railscot - Lostock Hall
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Preston | East Lancashire Line
|
Bamber Bridge |