Atherton railway station

Atherton
Atherton railway station in 2010
Location	Atherton, Wigan England
Coordinates	53°31′44″N 2°28′44″W / 53.529°N 2.479°W / 53.529; -2.479Coordinates: 53°31′44″N 2°28′44″W / 53.529°N 2.479°W / 53.529; -2.479
Grid reference	SD684037
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ATN
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
1 July 1888	Station opens as Atherton Central
1954	Station renamed Atherton
Passengers
2015/16	0.436 million
2016/17	0.338 million
2017/18	0.296 million
2018/19	0.289 million
2019/20	0.330 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Atherton railway station serves the town of Atherton, Greater Manchester, England, and is the main station on the line between Wigan and Manchester on the Manchester to Southport Line, and according to Strategic Rail Authority figures is the busiest station on the line (excluding Wigan and Manchester).

The station is located 11¾ miles (19 km) north west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Trains services to Kirkby and Southport.

Atherton is the nearest station to Leigh, one of the largest towns in Britain without its own railway station. The 582 bus service provides a frequent service to Leigh and Bolton, a connection not overly promoted by Transport for Greater Manchester.

Although it lies some distance from the centre of the town, the present Atherton station was originally named Atherton Central to differentiate it from Atherton Bag Lane (on the line from Bolton Great Moor Street to Kenyon Junction) which was closed in 1954^[1] and Howe Bridge on the line between Wigan North Western and Manchester Exchange.

History[]

The station dates from 1888, when the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway opened a direct line between Windsor Bridge Junction and Crow Nest Junction (near Hindley) to shorten its main line between Manchester and Liverpool and avoid the congested Bolton area. It was well used from the beginning and was subsequently quadrupled shortly after the turn of the century, later carrying through expresses from Manchester to Blackpool, Windermere and Glasgow (again to avoid Bolton) in addition to Liverpool workings.

The station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, and then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The cutbacks of the mid to late 1960s saw all the long distance services diverted via other routes, rendering the additional ('fast line') tracks obsolete and they were taken out of use on 21 November 1965. The inner tracks and platform faces on each side were retained to serve the two remaining lines to begin with (even though the tracks had previously been arranged with fast lines serving one island platform and the slows the other), but in the late 1980s the surviving tracks were realigned so as to serve just one of the two island platforms (the one used by the old fast lines) in order to allow the other to be abandoned.^[2] It was subsequently demolished and the former site is now heavily overgrown.

During the early to middle 1970s, the station had a sparse service outside weekday peak periods (see British Railways timetable 95, 1974) but in more recent times, the frequency levels have improved considerably with financial support from GMPTE, with a resultant increase in patronage.

When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways with support from the PTE, an arrangement that continued after the Privatisation of British Railways with co-operation from the current operating company.

Facilities[]

The station has a ticket office, which is manned seven days a week; a self-service ticket machine is also available in the booking hall. There is a waiting room at platform level, along with digital information screens, timetable posters and a P.A system to offer automated train running announcements. Step-free access to the platform from the ticket office is via a lift, but this is not available when the ticket office is closed.^[3]

Service[]

Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are three departures each hour to Manchester Victoria (one of which continues through to Blackburn via Todmorden and the other to Leeds) and three per hour towards Wigan Wallgate, one of which continues to Kirkby northbound. Only a limited direct service now operates onward to Southport (in the early morning, evening peak and late nights since the winter 2019 timetable change) through the week and on Saturdays, whilst some trains terminate at Wigan North Western rather than Wallgate.

Recent timetables provide a convenient connection (although a platform change must be made which is not possible for wheelchair users) at Hindley for services to Bolton.

On 23 May 2010 a Sunday service was introduced as a 12-month trial by GMPTE, providing an hourly service until the early evening.^[4][5] Previously no trains had called at the station on Sundays since the summer of 1966. This service remains in operation in the current 2019 timetable.^[6]

In media[]

Atherton railway station gained notability when it was the scene of a filmed arrest. Frank Garnett, of Ancoats, arranged to meet up with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was instead approached by vigilante group Nonces Not Welcome. The group had stung Garnett, who was filmed being arrested and handcuffed when police arrived. Garnett claimed he had a son and had never done this in his life. He also accused the hunters that's they were doing it for the sake of it and trying to ruin his career.^[7][8] Garnett, in his defense, claimed he was "just having a bit of online fun" and that he "probably just would have kissed her".^[9]

References[]

Notes

Bibliography

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atherton railway station.

• Train times and station information for Atherton railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Daisy Hill or Hag Fold		Northern Trains Manchester-Kirkby Manchester-Southport Line		Walkden