Widnes railway station
Widnes  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Widnes railway station | |
| Location | |
| Place | Farnworth |
| Local authority | Halton |
| Coordinates | 53°22′43″N 2°44′01″W / 53.37867°N 2.73374°WCoordinates: 53°22′43″N 2°44′01″W / 53.37867°N 2.73374°W |
| Grid reference | SJ512871 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | WID |
| Managed by | Northern Rail |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
|
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2004/05 | 0.217 million |
| 2005/06 |
 0.251 million |
| 2006/07 |
0.265 million |
| 2007/08 |
0.272 million |
| 2008/09 |
0.298 million |
| 2009/10 |
0.300 million |
| 2010/11 |
0.333 million |
| 2011/12 |
0.365 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| Pre-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| Post-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| 1 August 1873 | Opened as Farnworth (Widnes) |
| 5 January 1959 | Renamed Widnes North |
| 6 May 1968 | Renamed Widnes |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Widnes from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Widnes railway station (formerly known as Widnes North) is a railway station in the town of Widnes, in the Halton unitary authority, in the county of Cheshire in North West England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[1] The station is operated by Northern Rail.
Facilities
The railway station is of the standard Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) style. A footbridge connects the two platforms. The station is staffed, but only until 14:00. There is a car park outside. The station was refurbished in 2009 and as of 2010 houses a station shop and a beauty parlour, though there are still no toilet or waiting facilities for passengers other than the already existent shelter on the Manchester-bound platform. The platforms and footbridge have recently been refurbished. A ticket machine has been installed on the Manchester-bound platform.
History
The station, opened by the CLC on 1 August 1873, was originally known as Farnworth (Widnes),[2] Farnworth being at the time a village north of Widnes, but is now a northern suburb of the town. The station was renamed Widnes North on 5 January 1959,[2][3] and finally Widnes on 6 May 1968[3] (Widnes Central and Widnes South, on other lines, having closed to passengers in 1964 and 1962 respectively).[4][5]
Widnes Railway Station is one of two stations where Paul Simon reputedly composed the song "Homeward Bound", the other being Ditton railway station. It is uncertain exactly where the song was written: in an interview with Paul Zollo for SongTalk Magazine, Art Garfunkel says that Simon wrote the song in a train station "around Manchester"[6] while in an earlier interview for Playboy Magazine Simon himself mentioned the train station was at Liverpool.[7] It is likely, however, that it was written at one of the two Widnes stations during a long wait for a train, as Simon was travelling back from Widnes, where he had been playing.[8] A plaque commemorating this claim to fame is displayed on the Liverpool bound platform of Widnes railway station.[9] Simon is quoted as saying "[i]f you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London as quickly as possible."[10]
Service
There are generally two local trains (operated by Northern Rail) per hour in each direction, to Manchester Oxford Road to the east and Liverpool Lime Street to the west. Journey times from Widnes to Manchester on these local trains are around 45–50 minutes, depending on the number of stops. Journey time to Liverpool is around 25–30 minutes, again depending on stops.
An express service also operates hourly in each direction (run by East Midlands Trains), continuing beyond Manchester Piccadilly towards Nottingham and Norwich. The journey time on most of these trains to Manchester is 30 minutes, whilst Liverpool can be reached in 18 minutes.
Widnes is also served by one service to Scarborough on Mondays to Saturdays (run by First Transpennine Express).
The ticket office is staffed on a part-time bases between the hours of (06:00 and 14:00 Mon-Sat).
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hough Green | Northern Rail Manchester to Liverpool Line |
Sankey Warrington Central on Sundays | ||
| Warrington Central | East Midlands Trains Liverpool - Norwich |
Liverpool South Parkway or Hunts Cross | ||
| Warrington Central | First TransPennine Express North TransPennine Commuter Service |
Liverpool Lime Street or Hunts Cross | ||
See also
References
- ↑ English Heritage. "Widnes North Railway Station (1106340)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Butt 1995, p. 250
- ↑ "Disused Stations Site Record: Widnes Central". Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ↑ "Disused Stations Site Record: Widnes South". Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ↑ Zollo, Paul (1990). SongTalk Magazine http://www.artgarfunkel.com/articles/songtalk.html
|url=missing title (help). Retrieved 27 September 2012. - ↑ "'Paul Simon immortalised Widnes Station'". Cheshire Magazine (Cheshire, England: C.C. Publishing). Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ↑ Just ask Sunday Mail (Glasgow); 24 December 2006; MARGRET CAMPBELL; p. 38
- ↑ GADFLY - Paul's fair deal for Scarborough Northern Echo (Darlington); 7 June 2006; MIKE AMOS; p. 11
- ↑ Backtrack - BACKTRACK BRIEFS . . . Northern Echo (Darlington); 21 November 2008; Mike Amos; p. 11
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Widnes railway station. |
- Train times and station information for Widnes railway station from National Rail
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