Rochdale railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Rochdale
code = RCD


manager = Northern Rail
locale = Rochdale
borough = Rochdale
years = 1839
1889
1979

events = Original station opened
Current station opened
Reduced to 3 platforms

platforms = 3
usage0405 = 0.598
usage0506 = 0.641
usage0607 = 0.652|

Rochdale railway station serves the town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a station serving the town in the 19th century. The station was built, for reasons of economy of building and operation, some distance to the South (and up a steep hill) from the town centre.

The station is on the Oldham Loop Line and the Caldervale Line and is managed by Northern Rail. They also operate all train services from Rochdale.

The original station opened in 1839 adjacent to Moss Lane, to the east of the current station which was opened in 1889.

The station was formerly much larger than today (only one of the two island platforms is now used), serving a line to Bolton and another to Bacup as well as the lines still in existence. Passengers now walk through a subwayand climb stairs to the main concourse which includes a ticket office and snack bar.

ervices

Caldervale Line

On Monday to Saturday daytimes there is a half-hourly service from Rochdale non-stop to Manchester Victoria (southbound) and to Leeds via Bradford Interchange and Halifax northbound.

In the evenings and on Sundays there is an hourly service stopping at all stations to Manchester Victoria and Leeds.

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.

Oldham Loop Line

On Monday to Saturday daytimes there are two half-hourly services from Rochdale to Manchester Victoria and beyond. One via Oldham Mumps and the other via Castleton.

In the evenings and on Sundays there is an hourly service from Rochdale to Manchester Victoria via Oldham Mumps only. Caldervale Line trains provide the service via Castleton.

Northern Rail services via Oldham will cease in October 2009, when the line closes to allow work to start on converting the route to Metrolink operation [ [http://www.gmpte.com/content.cfm?subcategory_id=6029059 Future Metrolink Oldham Rochdale Line] ] .

Notes

References

*The Oldham Loop by Jeffrey Wells (ISBN 1-870119-76-2)
*The Manchester and Leeds Railway by Martin Bairstow
*Lost Railways of Lancashire by Gordon Suggitt (ISBN 1-85306-801-2)

External links

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