Hindley railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Hindley


caption = Hindley railway station in July 2008
code = HIN
manager = Northern Rail
locale = Hindley
borough = Wigan
lowusage0405 = 113,575
lowusage0506 = 126,188
lowusage0607 = 135,350
platforms = 2
pte = Greater Manchester
zone =
start =

Hindley railway station serves the area of Hindley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

Hindley is one of the principal stations that lie on the Wigan to Manchester line, just before the route branches to use either Atherton line or the Eastern Branch line via Westhoughton and Bolton. The station is located 22 km (14 miles) west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Rail services to these towns as well as Salford, Swinton and Walkden, with onward trains to Kirkby and Southport. Hindley is the nearest station to Aspull.

The station is situated some distance (about ¾ mile) from the centre of the town. Recently released figures (June 2008) show that usage increased year-on year by 9%. Interchange passengers (changing from the Atherton line to reach Bolton) amount to 12,479 annually.

This station was formerly called Hindley North to differentiate it from Hindley South station (closed in November 1964) [ [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/h/hindley_south/index.shtml Disused Railway Stations] ] on the line from Wigan Central to Glazebrook. There were also stations serving Hindley at Platt Bridge and at Hindley Green (both closed in 1961) on the line from Wigan North Western to Manchester Exchange, the local passenger service ceasing on 1 January 1968 [Marshall, J (1981) "Forgotten Railways North-West England", David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0 7153 8003 6; p.138] .

At Hindley there are now two platforms in use, with the remains of two further platforms (for the fast lines lifted in the late 1960's) overgrown.

There is now a "Friends of Hindley Station" group, formed in 2007, whose aim is to promote the use of the station by improvements. The car park has been enlarged but passenger numbers have increased so that it is probably in need of enlargement. The group have had several weekend clearing sessions. during one such session a large nameplaque made of stones on the station banking was uncovered. Also, as a result of their work, there is to be a direct link to Manchester airport from December 2008 [http://manchestertransportsucks.blogspot.com/2007/12/hindley-station-has-friends.html] .

ervices

There are three trains per hour to Manchester Victoria during Monday to Saturday daytimes (with extra calls at peak periods) - two via Atherton (running every thirty minutes) and one via Bolton. Some of the former continue onwards to Rochdale. In the opposite direction there are three trains each hour to Wigan, with hourly extensions to Southport & Kirkby respectively. During the weekday peaks a few trains run to and from Wigan North Western and Liverpool Lime Street. During the evenings there are two trains per hour to Manchester (one on each route) and two to Wigan, one of which continues to Southport.

On Sundays there is an hourly service to Bolton & Manchester Piccadilly and to Southport.

References

External links

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