Swinton (Manchester) railway station

Swinton railway station serves the town of Swinton and Pendlebury in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

Swinton is one of the local stations that lie on the Manchester to Southport Line between Wigan and Manchester. The station is located 5 miles 4 chains (8.1 km) west of Manchester Victoria^[1] with regular Northern Rail services to these towns as well as Salford, Atherton and Hindley, with onward trains to Kirkby and Southport.

Although the station is in the City of Salford, rather than Manchester, the name "Swinton (Manchester)" is used by National Rail to refer to the station (to avoid confusion with Swinton railway station in South Yorkshire). The station is actually located in Pendlebury and not Swinton itself, the boundary between the two districts being about 40 yards further down Station Road (B5231), beyond the junction with Boundary Road and nearer the town centre.

Swinton railway station has relatively basic facilities. For example, the ticket office is only open until 2pm, after this time one must purchase tickets on board the train. A screen in the booking hall lists live departure times of the trains showing any delays or cancellations, and screens are also now installed in the centre of the island platform showing live train departure information to commuters waiting on the platforms. An intercom type unit is also installed on the platform which passengers can use in the event of an emergency or if they need help or information when the station is unstaffed.

Service

Monday to Saturday daytimes, two trains per hour go southbound towards Manchester Victoria and two per hour towards Wigan Wallgate (hourly onwards to Southport and Kirkby respectively) northbound.

Evenings there is an hourly service in each direction to Manchester Victoria and Wigan.

A normal service operates on most bank holidays.

Reinstatement of Sunday service

During much of the 1990s and 2000s, there were no Sunday services serving Swinton. After several years of successful lobbying from passenger user groups and station friends' groups, Northern Rail introduced a 12 month trial Sunday service beginning on 23 May 2010 with the support of GMPTE.

The new Sunday service sees trains operating between Manchester Victoria and Wigan Wallgate on an hourly basis and calling at all stations along the line (except Ince).

Trains from Swinton to Manchester Victoria will depart at 9:42 then hourly at 42 minutes past each hour until 17:42 hours. Return departures from Manchester Victoria being at 10:12 then hourly at 12 minutes past each hour until 18:12 hours.

Departures from Swinton to Wigan Wallgate from Sunday 23 May will be at 10:23 then at 23 minutes past each hour until 18:23 hours. With departures from Wigan Wallgate being at 09:17 and at 17 minutes past each hour until 17:17 hours.

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Swinton (Manchester) railway station from National Rail
• Friends of Walkden Station - One of the main lobbying groups