Bamber Bridge railway station

Bamber Bridge National Rail
Bamber Bridge railway station in 2009
Location
Place Bamber Bridge
Local authority South Ribble
Grid reference SD564258
Operations
Station code BMB
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 84,876
2013/14 Increase 88,540
2014/15 Decrease 83,172
2015/16 Increase 86,178
2016/17 Increase 89,676
History
Key dates Opened 1846 (1846)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bamber Bridge from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Bamber Bridge railway station serves the area of Bamber Bridge, England 4 miles (6 km) to the south of Preston city centre on the A6 and M6 roads. It is situated on the East Lancashire Line and is managed by Northern.

Description

Its railway station, in common with Lostock Hall, was once much larger and used by many more trains than today. Opened in 1846 by the Blackburn & Preston Railway, it became a junction four years later when the B&PR's successor the East Lancashire Railway opened a direct route to Preston that avoided the need to use the North Union Railway between Farington and Preston (and thus pay hefty tolls to the NUR company).[1] The Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway had in the meantime arrived at Lostock Hall in 1849, putting the village on the main line from Blackburn to Liverpool.

The station in 1963

These newer lines all fell victim to BR economies in the aftermath of the Beeching Axe - the direct line to Preston closing to all traffic in April 1972 (services henceforth reverted to using the original 1846 line through Lostock Hall then the 1908-built Farington Curve to reach the WCML) and the Blackburn to Liverpool trains ending on 6 October 1969.[2] The line was resignalled in 1973 and is now controlled by the power box at Preston, although the distinctive signal box still remains to supervise three level crossings (one here locally and two further east by CCTV).[3]

On the westbound platform, the station building built in 1846 survives but is no longer used as part of the station. The building has been disused recently but is now being converted into a drop-in centre for pensioners.[4] The waiting room on the eastbound platform and the old pedestrian subway linking the two platforms have both been removed.

Bamber Bridge may not strictly be a "one-street village", but each train to pass through stops traffic; the level crossing cuts across the main road. Only Northern trains en route to and from Preston use Bamber Bridge. It has two platforms, but is unstaffed (so tickets must be purchased on the train when travelling from here). Passenger information screens are in operation at the station (as of autumn 2016), along with a long-line P.A system to provide train running information.[5]

As of January 2018, along with other Stations on this line, a new touch screen Ticket Machine was added to the Station.

Services

Monday to Saturdays, there is an hourly service from Bamber Bridge towards Preston westbound and Blackburn, Burnley and Colne, eastbound. There is also an hourly service in each direction on Sundays, with westbound trains running to Blackpool South.

In addition to the basic service, three additional calls are provided by services on the York & Leeds to Preston line during peak periods to give additional journey opportunities to & from Preston for commuters & shoppers - one train from Leeds and one from York stop westbound in the morning and one to York eastbound in the evening.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Marshall, p.39
  2. ↑ Marshall, p.143
  3. ↑ Bamber Bridge Station Crossing Control Panel Tilly, John www.tillyweb.biz; Retrieved 20 November 2016
  4. ↑ "Bamber Bridge railway gets a £305,000 facelift". 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  5. ↑ Bamber Bridge Station InformationCommunity Rail Lancashire; Retrieved 20 November 2016
  6. ↑ GB eNRT May 2018 Edition, Table 97

Bibliography

  • Marshall, J (1981). Forgotten Railways North-West England. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Lostock Hall   Northern
East Lancashire Line		   Pleasington

Coordinates: 53°43′37″N 2°39′40″W / 53.727°N 2.661°W / 53.727; -2.661

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