Poulton-le-Fylde railway station

Railways in Poulton-le-Fylde. The dates refer to passenger services.

The original station was about 400 yards (400 m) north-east of the current location, at "The Breck".[1] The railway to the fishing town of Fleetwood passed along a straight line east of the town. From 1846, there was a junction to Blackpool just north of the station, with tight connecting curves facing either way. In 1893 a fatal accident occurred when a train took the curve too fast.[2][3] Subsequently, in 1896, the tracks were realigned to follow a much gentler westward curve to Blackpool, with the new station halfway along the curve. The Fleetwood branch then curved to the east to rejoin the original alignment. The old station continued to be used as a goods station until 1968.[4]

Passenger services to Fleetwood were withdrawn by British Rail on 1 June 1970 during railway restructuring, although a freight service continued to the ICI plant at Burn Naze Halt until 1999. The line is still extant (albeit overgrown and disused), but the junction with the Blackpool line west of the station was removed in April 2017 in preparation for electrification of the route.[5] Since June 2006, there have been plans to restore (and preserve) the passenger rail link towards Fleetwood via Thornton & Cleveleys, as a heritage railway; a £30,000 feasibility study is needed to be undertaken to explore the re-instatement of the link and the addition of a third platform at Poulton-le-Fylde.[6]

An arrivals board on the eastbound side of the station

The station has a manned ticket office at street level, staffed throughout the week (Monday to Saturday 06:10-19:30 and Sunday 06:40-18:10). There is also a self-service ticket machine provided for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. There is a waiting room at platform level, along with toilets, bench seating and timetable posters. Train running information is offered via automatic announcements and digital display screens. Step-free access is available via lifts from the entrance to the platform when the ticket office is staffed.[7]

The station is now served by trains to and from Blackpool North (four per hour) and to Hazel Grove via Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport, York and to Liverpool Lime Street via St Helens Central.[8] Avanti West Coast operates four trains each way on weekdays between London Euston and Blackpool North.[9]

Sundays see hourly services to Manchester Airport, Manchester Victoria, Liverpool Lime Street and York. The station is also served by a single DalesRail service to Carlisle via Settle during the summer months and to Hellifield (for onward travel to Settle and Carlisle) for the remainder of the year.

The modernisation and electrification of the Preston to Blackpool North line, and hence Poulton-le-Fylde station was announced in December 2009.[10] The modernisation included completely new signalling of the entire line along with rationalisation of the lines and removal of the connection into the Fleetwood branch. The removal of the signal box along with four others along the line was included as part of the works.[11] This resulted in a total blockade of the line from 11 November 2017 until 25 March 2018 but subsequently extended to 16 April 2018 due to bad weather.[12]

In early 2021 Grand Central will commence operating five direct services per day from Blackpool North to London Euston that will call at Poulton-le-Fylde.[13][14][15][16]

• Mitchell, L. & Hartley, S. (2005) "Lancashire Historic Town Survey—Poulton-le-Fylde". Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009. (19.1 MiB), Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, accessed 30 October 2007
• Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN 1-85306-801-2
• Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1-870754-61-1

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Poulton-le-Fylde railway station.

• Train times and station information for Poulton-le-Fylde railway station from National Rail
• Blackpool & Fylde Rail Users’ Association—Poulton, accessed 17 October 2007
• Poulton & Wyre Railway Society, working towards restoring the passenger rail link to Fleetwood.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Layton		Northern Trains Blackpool Branch Line		Kirkham & Wesham
Blackpool North		Northern Trains Calder Valley line		Preston
		Northern Trains Manchester to Preston line		Preston
		Northern Trains Liverpool to Wigan line		Kirkham & Wesham
		Avanti West Coast WCML Blackpool Branch		Kirkham & Wesham
	Future Services
Blackpool North		Grand Central WCML Blackpool Branch		Kirkham & Wesham
	Disused railways
Thornton for Cleveleys		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Fleetwood Branch Line		Singleton
Bispham		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Blackpool Branch Line