Todmorden railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Todmorden


manager = Northern Rail
locale = Todmorden
borough = Calderdale
pte = West Yorkshire (Metro)
zone = 5
usage0405 = 0.297
usage0506 = 0.311
platforms = 2
start = 1841
latitude = 53.7138
longitude = -2.0997

Todmorden railway station serves the town of Todmorden in West Yorkshire (previously partly in Lancashire). Originally built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway, the station is located on the Caldervale Line 30 miles (48 km) west of Leeds and 19 miles (30 km) north-east of Manchester Victoria.

It was opened in March 1841 when the final portion of M&L main line between Manchester and Normanton through the Summit Tunnel was completed. It became a junction in 1849 with the opening of a branch line westwards through the Cliviger Gorge to Burnley. This was later extended to join the East Lancashire Railway near Rose Grove, giving the town a direct route to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool.

For many years the station was served by through express trains between Liverpool and York as well as various local services toward Preston, Bradford and Leeds, but since the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, the basic service has been a local one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. Services to Burnley ended with the withdrawal of the Rose Grove local shuttle in 1965, and although the line itself remains open, the short curve that would allow trains on this route to call here was removed in the early 1970s (the bay platform it once used can still be made seen). Passengers wishing to travel via this route to Preston and beyond therefore have to catch a train to Hebden Bridge and change there to continue their journey. Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.

ervices

Monday to Saturday daytimes, there is an half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via Halifax eastbound. There is an hourly service each way in the evenings and on Sundays.

Future plans from December 2008

Northern Rail have proposed changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour will run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - one will be the current stopping service, one will go via Dewsbury and Brighouse, and include stops at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton, and one will be a limited stop service - between Bradford and Manchester the service will only call at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale. [http://www.wypta.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/47213667-2BE0-4ED1-82D1-0E319B982594/0/RWG16MAY2008ITEM5.pdf]

Facilities

There is a ticket office on platform 1 and waiting rooms on both platforms.Also on platform 1 is the "Platform 1 Gallery", an art gallery run by Todmorden art group, which has regular exhibitions, as well as selling hand made gifts, and other art work including hand crafted teddy bears. There is also a small library, and a herb garden.There is a new Todmorden Station Partnership group [http://www.todmordenstation.btik.com] who help look after the station, and stage events.

References

*Bairstow, M. (1983), "The Manchester & Leeds Railway (The Calder Valley Line)", Wyvern Publishing, Skipton, ISBN 0 907941 06 0