Ince (Manchester) railway station

Ince
Ince railway station in 2015
Location
Place	Ince-in-Makerfield
Local authority	Wigan
Grid reference	SD595048
Operations
Station code	INC
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2 faces (Central island)
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12	21,608
2012/13	22,200
2013/14	22,300
2014/15	19,684
2015/16	21,150
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
History
Original company	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
1888	Opened as Higher Ince
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ince from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Ince railway station serves the Ince area of Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The station is on the Manchester-Southport Line 17¼ miles (28 km) north west of Manchester Victoria.

Until November 1964, Ince was also served by a station at Lower Ince on the line from Wigan Central to Glazebrook (to the now closed Manchester Central).

Ince suffered in the 1960s and 1970s from much house clearance and landscaping. This has resulted in low passenger usage for the station which served an area which was (until the 1960s) a bustling independent town. Ince (unlike Daisy Hill and Hindley, and other stations on the line) is not a commuter dormitory suburb and now the station is deserted even at peak times. Usage figures increased by around 10% in 2006/07 and recently by greater amounts (around 25% in 2007/08, and 29% in 2010-11) albeit from a relatively low base.

There are three seats, with a new shelter that contains benches. There is also a newly installed LED next train indicator sign (which the station did not previously have) and a payphone. There are no other facilities (such as a ticket machine or waiting room) at the station, as can be seen from its National Rail Enquiries entry.^[1] Passengers must buy their tickets in advance or from the conductor on the train as there is no staffed ticket office here.

Services

The station is served by an hourly service in each direction to Manchester Victoria via Atherton and to Southport (Wigan Wallgate during the evenings) respectively. Peak hour variations see a few Kirkby trains call during the evening peak and through trains beyond Manchester to Huddersfield, Blackburn and Leeds.

There is an hourly daytime Sunday service to Wigan and Manchester Victoria (via Atherton) in the current (summer 2017) timetable.^[2]

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ince (Wigan) railway station.

• Train times and station information for Ince (Manchester) railway station from National Rail
• Disused-stations.org (see Lower Ince)

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wigan Wallgate		Northern Manchester-Southport Line or Manchester Airport-Southport		Hindley
		Northern Manchester-Kirkby

Coordinates: 53°32′21″N 2°36′45″W / 53.5391°N 2.6126°W / 53.5391; -2.6126