Todmorden railway station

Todmorden railway station is in West Yorkshire, England, originally in Lancashire. It was built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway and is on the Caldervale Line 23 miles (37 km) west of Leeds and 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Manchester Victoria.

It was opened in March 1841 when the final portion of M&L main line between Manchester and Normanton through Summit Tunnel was completed. It became a junction in 1849 with the opening of a branch line westwards through the Cliviger Gorge to Burnley. This was later extended to join the East Lancashire Railway near Rose Grove, giving a direct route to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool.

For many years the station was served by express trains between Liverpool and York and local trains toward Preston, Bradford and Leeds, but since the Beeching cuts in the 1960s the basic service has been a local one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. Trains to Burnley ended with the withdrawal of the Rose Grove local shuttle in 1965: although the line remains open, the short curve that would allow trains on this route to call here was removed in the early 1970s (the bay platform it once used can still be seen). Passengers wishing to travel via this route to Preston and beyond therefore have to catch a train to Hebden Bridge and change there to continue their journey. Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.

The south to west curve may well be reopened in the next few years now that a new funding agreement between central government and a consortium of local councils in East Lancashire has been signed.^[1] This would permit services to run between Burnley (and possibly beyond) and Todmorden for the first time since the mid-sixties whilst also reinstating through rail services between Burnley and Manchester.The curve was partly lifted in 1972. The curve ran from approx 20m north of the viaduct round 500 metres and connected on to the copy pit line at the pink girder bridge. The remains of the curve can be seen from the pink girder bridge on Stansfield Road. Recently Network Rail have been clearing the trackbed of vegetation to see what is involved in relaying the track. Some more track has become visible since this has taken place. This assessment concluded that it could be feasible to reinstate the curve although the original route could not be used as the original curve is deemed to be too sharp. An alternative route has been put forward. If funds can be obtained by early next year to carry forward the project, the curve could be back in use by the end of 2013.^[2]

Services

Until 12 December 2008, Monday to Saturday daytime there was a half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via Halifax eastbound.

Service Changes from December 2008

Northern Rail made changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour now run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - the stopping service that ran prior to the timetable change, calling at all stations via Halifax; via Dewsbury and Brighouse, stopping at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton; and a limited stop service between Bradford and Manchester, calling at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale only.^[3]

There is an hourly service each way (via Halifax) in the evenings and on Sundays.

Facilities

There are a ticket office on platform 1 and waiting rooms on both platforms. Also on platform 1 is the Platform 1 Gallery, an art gallery run by Todmorden art group, which has regular exhibitions, as well as selling hand made gifts, and other art work including hand crafted teddy bears. There is also a small library, and a herb garden. There is a new Todmorden Station Partnership group [1] who help look after the station, and stage events.

References

Notes

Sources

• Bairstow, M. (1983), The Manchester & Leeds Railway (The Calder Valley Line), Wyvern Publishing, Skipton, ISBN 0-90794-106-0

External links

• Train times and station information for Todmorden railway station from National Rail