Lostock railway station

Lostock railway station serves the suburbs of Heaton and Lostock in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. According to large scale Ordnance Survey maps and local usage, the area is named Lostock Junction and the station is referred to as such by many local people. Indeed, Network Rail's own "location map" refers to the area as "Lostock Junction".[1] This is similar to the situation in London where Clapham Junction railway station is in fact in Battersea, and the surrounding area has taken the name of Clapham Junction. Lostock itself is some distance to the west of the station.

Lostock
Lostock station. View looking east. The Wigan lines on the right (with no platforms) can be seen joining the main line in the distance.
Location	Lostock, Bolton England
Coordinates	53.573°N 2.494°W
Grid reference	SD674086
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	LOT
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	Liverpool and Bury Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
c. August 1852	Station opened as Lostock Junction
7 November 1966	Station closed
16 May 1988	Reopened as Lostock Parkway
?	Renamed Lostock
Passengers
2015/16	0.232 million
2016/17	0.276 million
2017/18	0.243 million
2018/19	0.237 million
2019/20	0.280 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The railway line between Bolton and Preston had opened as far as Rawlinson Bridge (between Adlington and Chorley) on 4 February 1841, and among the original stations on this route, the first station out of Bolton was at Blackrod.[2] On 20 November 1848, the Liverpool and Bury Railway was opened giving a route between Bolton and Wigan, and the point where it connected to the Bolton–Preston line was named Lostock Junction; the first station out of Bolton on this route was Westhoughton. Later, a station was constructed at the junction, also named Lostock Junction, which opened around August 1852. The station gave its name to the village which grew around it.[3][4] This station had platforms on both the Preston and Wigan routes.[5]

On 17 July 1920, four people were killed and 148 were injured in a near head-on collision between two Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway passenger trains at Lostock Junction due to a signal having erroneously been passed at danger.[6]

Lostock Junction Station closed on 7 November 1966[4] as part of the programme of cuts initiated by the Beeching Report of 1963. However, on 16 May 1988 the station was reopened, but now with platforms only on the Preston route and renamed Lostock Parkway, a large car park for the use of park-and-ride commuters having been provided.[4] The suffix "Parkway" was later dropped.[7]

Services

The station in 2018, following completion of electrification works.

The two-platform station is served by Northern Trains services to Manchester stations (i.e. Piccadilly, Airport, Oxford Road and Victoria) from Preston and Blackpool North.[8] It is a popular commuter station.[9]

The Bolton-Wigan branch-line diverges just to the south of Lostock's platforms, but there are no longer any platforms on the branch to Wigan and Southport. The Network Rail North West Route Utilisation Strategy has recommended the construction of these additional platforms and they were planned to be reinstated as part of the Manchester TIF bid.[10]

Saturday and Sunday services were replaced by buses most weekends from May 2015 until November 2018 due to the late-running electrification work on the route.[11] Weekend services resumed on Sunday 11 November 2018 after the completion of the electrification engineering work.

Electric service commenced on Monday 11 February 2019, operated by Class 319 electric multiple units.[12]

Station improvements

Most recently in early 2009, the station has had a passenger information display system installed, giving waiting passengers on the platforms information about trains that are due to arrive. Fully computer automated, it is also equipped with an audio speaker system, giving the benefit of announcements of train arrivals and delays. During December 2008 - Spring 2009 the car park facilities were greatly improved by extending and resurfacing the land surrounding the railway, with the addition of floodlighting and CCTV.

Facilities

The station has a ticket office, which is manned from start of service until 19:35, six days per week (closed Sundays). Outside these hours, tickets can be bought from a vending machine on either platform. Shelters are located on each platform and both have step-free access (via ramps northbound).[13]

References

1. Local Area Lostock (LOT) Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
2. Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 74, 78. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
3. Marshall 1969, pp. 129,132,133
4. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 149. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
5. Lostock and Chew Moor - Railways Archived 5 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
6. "Report on the Accident at Lostock Junction on 17th July 1920". The Railways Archive. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
7. BR timetables 1988 and 1989.
8. Table 82 National Rail timetable, May 2019
9. Strategic Rail Authority figures 2004-05.
10. "Bolton:Train", GM Future Transport Website Archived 20 June 2008 at Archive.today Retrieved 21 June 2008
11. Manchester - Bolton - Preston route improvement works Archived 30 July 2018 at the Wayback MachineNorthern website news article; Retrieved 2 August 2018
12. McDonnell, Seamus (14 February 2019). "First electric trains are a 'new dawn' for Bolton commuters | The Bolton News". The Bolton News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
13. Lostock station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 9 December 2016

External links

• Train times and station information for Lostock railway station from National Rail
• Local information