Preston railway station

		Edinburgh Waverley for ECML
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		Glasgow Central
		for SPT Network
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		Cumbrian Coast Line and
		Glasgow South Western Line
		Penrith
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		for Windermere Line
		Lancaster
		Preston

		Wigan North Western
		Bolton
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		Liverpool Lime Street
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		Birmingham New Street
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		Rugby for Birmingham Loop

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		Watford Junction
		London Euston

Preston Railway Station in Preston, Lancashire is on the West Coast Main Line. It is served by Northern Rail, Virgin Trains, Central Trains and TransPennine Express. Also two early morning sleeper services serve Preston, provided by First ScotRail.

One of the largest Lancashire stations, Preston suffered from the cut-backs of the 1960s and 1970s. Platforms were destroyed or blocked; a number of links to the communities immediately south were demolished to create a shopping centre. Signs of the old station still exist - old railway lines are now pathway walks through parks and former rail-lines can still be seen through the city itself. There are currently 6 full sized and 2 "stub" platforms at Preston.

Platforms 3 and 4 of Preston Railway Station

Platform 2

Platform 1 runs branch line services to Blackpool North, and Blackpool South. Ormskirk services terminate here.
Platform 2 runs branch services to Liverpool and Manchester, and also TransPennine links on the East Lancashire Line.
Platform 3 is used almost exclusively for Virgin trains northwards to Lancaster, Carlisle and Scotland on the West Coast Main Line. Local branch services to Lancaster, Barrow and Morecambe also use this platform. At the far south end of platform 3 is the bay platform "3c", used mainly for services to Liverpool Lime Street.
Platform 4 is used for Virgin trains to London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is also used for Manchester, Liverpool, and Buxton bound services. As with platform 3, there is a "4c" at the far south end of platform 4. Neither of these bay platforms have functioning display screens.
Platforms 5 and 6 are used for a mixture of southern and northern services, both Virgn and local branch lines.
Platform 7 is numbered as "7" although it has not been used for passenger services at any time in recent memory.
Platform R.E.S This is also a platform used as the preferred alternative platform for Royal Mail services platforms which are the former platforms 1 and 2 the use of which was temporary during severe technical problems and engineering works.

1 Previously
2 Facilities
3 Preston Station Free Buffet
4 References
5 External links
6 Services

[edit] Previously

Preston Railway Station was originally three stations. Platforms 1 and 2 were the Northern Union, 3 to 7 the LMS, and 8 to 13 East Lancashire.

Platform 1 was for trains mainly for Manchester Victoria-Blackpool North railway station services, and platform 2 the reverse trip.
Platforms 3 and 4 were used for general purposes.
Platform 5 was used for Euston, London-Scotland, and regional Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness and Blackpool sevices. Platform 6 served the reverse. Platform 7 was used as a loop
Platforms 8 & 9 served East Lancashire-Blackpool.
Platforms 10,11 and 12 were bays for trains to Southport and Liverpool.
Platform 13 was a through line

It had 2 booking offices and 3 buffets. Platforms 9 & 13, along with the Butler St. Goods Yard, were demolished to make way for a new shopping centre, the lines having been closed formerly.

Some of the station's former glories can still be seen, for example at the north end of platform 3, a disused bay platform can be seen. At the far north end of platform 4, some rolling stock is visible to the north and in a tunnel between platforms 3 and 4, under the station approach. At the north of platform 7 is the blocked up remains of an old railway tunnel.

[edit] Facilities

The ticket office is located at the main entrance, but an alternative entrance serves the Fishergate Shopping Centre and the car park. A footbridge connects this entrance with the platforms. The main island platform contains shops and food outlets.

[edit] Preston Station Free Buffet

The war-time Preston Station Free Buffet which served drinks and sandwiches free to anyone in uniform 24 hours a day for the duration of the First and Second World Wars. It was funded by subscription and had its own marked crockery. The station would have been on a major north-south route for troops. There is a comemorative plaque covering World War Two in the waiting room on platforms 3 & 4 which is the site of buffet.

[edit] References

Biddle, G., (1989), The Railways Around Preston - A Historical Review, Scenes from the Past: No. 6, Foxline Publishing, ISBN 1-870119-05-3
Buck, M. and Rawlinson, M., (2000), Line By Line: The West Coast Main Line, London Euston to Glasgow Central, Freightmaster Publishing, ISBN 0-9537540-0-6
Shannon, P. and Hillmer, J., (2004), West, East and North Lancashire, British Railways - Past and Present: No. 43, p. 31-34, Past & Present Publishing, ISBN 1-85895-237-9
Taylor, S., (1997), Journeys by Excursion Train: Preston to Blackpool (Central), Scenes from the Past: No. 26, Part 3, p. 14-35, Foxline Publishing, ISBN 1-870119-51-7

[edit] External links

Train times and station information for Preston railway station from National Rail
Map and aerial photo of Preston railway station from Multimap.com

[edit] Services

Preceding station		Following station
Wigan North Western	Central Trains West Coast Main Line	Terminus
Chorley	TransPennine Express TransPennine North West	Lancaster
Leyland	Northern Rail Blackpool-Liverpool Line	Blackpool North
Leyland	Northern Rail Manchester-Preston Line	Terminus
Lostock Hall	Northern Rail East Lancashire Line	Salwick (limited stop)
Poulton-le-Fylde	Northern Rail Caldervale Line	Blackburn
Croston	Northern Rail Ormskirk Branch Line	Terminus
Wigan North Western or Bolton	Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line or West Coast Main Line Manchester Branch)	Lancaster
Crewe	First ScotRail Highland Caledonian Sleeper	Edinburgh Waverley
Disused Railways
Terminus	Blackpool Branch Line	Lea Road
Farington	West Coast Main Line	Oxheys Cattle
Penwortham Cop Lane	West Lancashire Railway	Terminus
Terminus	Preston and Longridge Railway	Deepdale
Terminus	Lancashire and Yorkshire Branch Line	Lostock Hall
Terminus	Preston Docks Branch Line	Preston Docks