Blackpool Central railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The long-gone Blackpool Central was the largest railway station to have existed in the town of Blackpool in the county of Lancashire, England. Principle railway services to Blackpool now terminate at Blackpool North station.

[edit] History

The station was opened on 6th June 1853 as "Blackpool Station" and was not actually renamed "Blackpool Central" until 1878. Initially, it was a relatively small town centre terminus for the line running from Preston along the south of the Fylde coast. In 1900, the facility was heavily extended to include 14 platforms - for perspective, this is the same number of platforms that London's busy Paddington terminus operates as of 2006. A further development came in 1903 when an additional railway line was added, routed directly from Preston and considerably shorter and quicker. This arrangement made for very convenient and direct access to Blackpool's town centre, particularly the sea front and Blackpool Tower.

Central Station was the focus of Blackpool's worst incident during World War II. Blackpool was home base for a major flight training centre and a fighter squadron during the war. On 27th August 1941, two aircraft - a Blackburn Botha trainer and a Boulton Paul Defiant fighter collided in midair over the sea, just off Blackpool's central seafront. The debris from the collision was strewn over a large area but a large part of it struck Central Station, causing severe damage and killing several people, the exact number unknown to this day.

The station remained in service just long enough to see its centenary before sudden closure on 2nd November 1964 as a consequence of the Beeching Axe. Part of the building was used as a bingo hall until 1973, at which point all buildings was demolished. The direct line from Preston (which also passed through Blackpool South station) was closed in 1967, leaving a large tract of wasteland along with disused embankments and bridges.

[edit] Current use of the site

The land reclaimed from the station buildings became the location of some sea front amusement arcades, a new police station and a multi-storey car park with some residual spare land used as additional flat car parking space. In the late 1980s, the derelict track bed of the central railway line was adapted into a road connecting the town centre with the M55 motorway. This road terminates at Blackpool Central Car Park, based at the site of the former station office. The main claim to fame for this area is that Blackpool Illuminations are ceremonially switched on here with a large party and often local and national radio coverage. The very outer wall of the car park is the last visible remnant of the 1900 build.

A large part of the sidings and other land formerly belonging to British Rail were converted into a car park at about the same time the road was completed. The toilets at the end near the promenade are all that remain of the station. Some of this land was used to create George Bancroft Park in 2006.