Clifton railway station, Greater Manchester

Clifton railway station is a railway station in Clifton, Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the Manchester to Preston Line.

History

The railway line between Salford and Bolton, the Manchester and Bolton Railway (M&BR), opened in 1838, but the original stations did not include any between Agecroft Bridge and Ringley.^[1] In 1844, the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway (MB&RR) was authorised to build a line from a junction with the M&BR at Clifton, to Rawtenstall. This opened to the public on 28 September 1846,^[2] by which time the MB&RR had amalgamated with other lines to become the East Lancashire Railway,^[3] and the M&BR had itself amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway;^[4] the M&LR became the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847.^[5]

The Bury line ran northward from the junction, crossing the Irwell Valley on Clifton Viaduct (known locally as "the 13-arches"), to run on the opposite side of the valley to the Bolton line. A station just to the north-west of the junction, with two platforms for each route, opened in June 1847, and was named Clifton Junction.^[2][6]

The line to Bury closed in 1966, but (as of March 2008^[update]) the viaduct is still standing as a local landmark.

On 6 May 1974 the station was renamed Clifton,^[6][7] and in the 1980s the service was reduced to one train per day in each direction.

The closest alternative station to Clifton Junction with a regular service is Swinton 1.25 miles (2.01 km) miles away on the line between Manchester and Wigan via Atherton.

Services

There is a limited service from Clifton station with one train in each direction between Manchester Victoria and Bolton Mondays to Saturdays. In 2006, the station had only one train a day in each direction (local services run by Northern Rail); only 182 passengers were recorded as using the station in 2005–6.

• 0707 to Manchester Victoria, calling at: Salford Crescent, Salford Central and Manchester Victoria. This train originates at Blackburn.

• 1748 to Wigan Wallgate calling Kearsley, Farnworth, Moses Gate, Bolton, Westhoughton, Hindley and Wigan Wallgate. This train originates at Manchester Victoria.

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Clifton railway station, Greater Manchester from National Rail
• History of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with mention of Molyneux Junction
• Images of Clifton Junction Station and Clifton Tunnel
• Images of Clifton line, including a reference to Molyneux Brow Station