Smithy Bridge railway station

Smithy Bridge National Rail

Smithy Bridge railway station
Location
Place Smithy Bridge
Local authority Rochdale
Grid reference SD925151
Operations
Station code SMB
Managed by Northern Rail
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.092 million
2005/06 Increase 0.098 million
2006/07 Decrease 0.094 million
2007/08 Increase 0.102 million
2008/09 Increase 0.125 million
2009/10 Increase 0.134 million
2010/11 Increase 0.141 million
2011/12 Increase 0.163 million
2012/13 Increase 0.167 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.147 million
History
1868
1960
1985		 Original station opened
Closed
Current station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Smithy Bridge from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Smithy Bridge railway station serves the village of Smithy Bridge and Hollingworth Lake near Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The station is on the Caldervale Line 12 3⁄4 miles (20.5 km) north of Manchester Victoria on the way to Leeds.

Services

Monday to Saturday daytimes there is a half-hourly service to Manchester Victoria southbound and to Todmorden northbound, with one service per hour continuing to Leeds. Following changes to the Caldervale line timetable from May 2014, one service now terminates at Todmorden rather than continuing to destinations further east, whilst the other runs via Dewsbury. In the evening, Leeds services run via Bradford Interchange whilst on Sundays there is an hourly service each way to Manchester & Todmorden with connections available at the latter for stations further east.[1]

Timetables are due to change again when the 'Todmorden Curve' re-opens in May 2015 allowing trains onto the Burnley/Blackburn line, giving an alternative route through to Preston.

History

The station was first opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in October 1868. In 1915, the station was the scene of a tragic accident involving an express train and an empty stock train. Four people died and many others were injured. It was closed on 2 May 1960 by British Rail but reopened on its original site,albeit with a slightly different platform layout, on 19 August 1985 with financial assistance from Greater Manchester PTE. The signal box here, which controlled the level crossing and acted as a 'fringe' box to Preston PSB from 1973 onwards, was downgraded in late 2011 from a block post to a crossing box. The signalling is now remotely operated from the new 'Rochdale West' panel at Castleton (which also supervises the layout at Rochdale and will eventually replace another box at Castleton East Junction). The crossing is now automatic. Smithy Bridge Crossing box closed early 2014 and is now demolished, almost without trace.

Notes

  1. ↑ GB National Rail Timetable May - December 2014, Table 41

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Smithy Bridge railway station.

Railways in Rochdale (Past, Present and Future)

Legend
To Bacup
To Calderdale
Broadley
Littleborough
Shawclough and Healey
Wardleworth
Smithy Bridge
Rochdale Town Centre

Rochdale
Newbold
Kingsway Business Park
To Bury
Milnrow
Broadfield
Newhey
To Oldham
Heywood
Castleton
Middleton
Mills Hill
To Manchester
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Rochdale   Northern Rail
Caldervale Line		   Littleborough

Coordinates: 53°38′00″N 2°06′48″W / 53.6333°N 2.1134°W