Atherton railway station serves the town of Atherton, Greater Manchester, and is the main station on the line it serves, itself called the Atherton line, between Wigan and Manchester, and according to Strategic Rail Authority figures) is the busiest station on the line (Salford Crescent is technically not on the line).

The station is located 19 km (11¾ miles) north west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Rail services to these towns as well as Salford, Swinton and Hindley, with onward trains to Kirkby and Southport.

Atherton is the nearest station to Leigh (Greater Manchester), one of the largest towns in Britain without its own railway station. The bus service 582 provides a frequent service to Leigh (every ten minutes or better) from bus stops a few seconds' walk from the station. This easy connection is not overly promoted by the local authorities and transport executive, who instead are pushing for a guided busway to the town of Leigh: [266988] .

The present Atherton station was originally named Atherton Central (although in fact it lies some distance from the centre of the town) to differentiate it from Atherton Bag Lane (on the line from Bolton Great Moor Street to Kenyon Junction) which was closed in 1954. Atherton was also served by a station at 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 & 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 tracks obsolete and they were closed & lifted by the end of the decade (the now-derelict outer platforms they served are still just visible). During the early to middle 1970s, the station had a sparse service outside weekday peak periods but in more recent times, the frequency levels have improved considerably thanks to financial support from Greater Manchester PTE, 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.

Service

Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are two departures each hour to Manchester Victoria and two per hour towards Wigan Wallgate (hourly onwards to Southport and Kirkby respectively) northbound.

Evenings there is an hourly service in each direction to Manchester Victoria and Wigan.

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.

There is no Sunday service.

External links

Sub Brit page Atherton Bag Lane

References

• Atherton station on navigable O.S. map

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