Mouldsworth railway station

Mouldsworth railway station serves the village of Mouldsworth in Cheshire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains.

Mouldsworth
Location	Mouldsworth, Cheshire West and Chester England
Grid reference	SJ512707
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	MLD
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	22 June 1870
Passengers
2015/16	32,022
2016/17	33,746
2017/18	36,180
2018/19	29,564
2019/20	29,790
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Train services run between Manchester Piccadilly and Chester.

History

The station and railway here first opened in 1869 for goods and 1870 for passengers, on the line from Northwich to West Cheshire Junction (near Helsby); the extension line from here to Chester was added in November 1874 (1 May 1875 for passengers).[1] At the same time passenger services on the Helsby line, via Manley, ceased and Manley station was closed to passengers, however the line remained open for freight until 1991 and Mouldsworth Junction was managed by a signal box at the end of the platform. Mouldsworth station had a coal yard which opened in March 1871, and from here James Lowe delivered coal to many villages in the local area.[2] The coal yard was in use until at least 1954, as it was listed at that time by the National Coal Board.[3] The coal yard, goods yard (including goods shed), and sidings on both sides of the track were controlled by a second signal box, which went out of use in 1967 and is now in use at Chinnor on the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway.

Next to the station was the Station Hotel opened around May 1882,[4] and now named the Goshawk, which is a name it has carried from at least the 1970s. The hotel has had a bowling green next to it since at least 1891.[5]

Services used to run to the CLC terminus at Chester Northgate, but this closed in October 1969.[1] Trains henceforth used a connection onto the former Birkenhead Joint Railway main line at Mickle Trafford (where the two lines ran adjacent to each other) to reach Chester General. As part of this rationalisation work, the Mouldsworth to Mickle Trafford section was also reduced to a single line. In the opposite direction, the closure of Manchester Central earlier that year saw eastbound services diverted to start/terminate at Manchester Oxford Road.

The station used to be a request stop but this status was removed at the spring 2011 timetable change.

The signal box here was decommissioned and demolished in 2006,[6] control of the line then passing to Mickle Trafford box. The West Cheshire Railway line from Helsby closed to passengers as long ago as May 1875 (following the opening of the Chester line), but once carried significant volumes of oil and petrochemical traffic from the refineries near Stanlow and Thornton towards Crewe and points south via Middlewich. A change in distribution methods at the refinery led to this all but disappearing by the end of 1990. A few months later, a major fire seriously damaged the signal box at Helsby West Cheshire Junction and this led to the immediate closure of the line on 14 September 1991.[7][8] The disused track remained intact until 1995, when it was lifted. The old formation is still just visible at the western end of the station, but it is now heavily overgrown and inaccessible.

Facilities

Like most others on the route, the station is unmanned. A self-service machine is available for ticket purchases, with train running information provided through electronic displays and posters. The main buildings on the Chester-bound platform are in private occupation, but waiting shelters are provided on both platforms. Step-free access is only available on the Manchester-bound platform.[9]

Services

There is a basic hourly service in each direction Monday to Saturday, with two additional weekday peak trains to and from Stockport. On Sundays there is a two-hourly service each way, with eastbound trains running through to Manchester, Wigan Wallgate and Southport.[10]

References

1. Disused Stations - Chester NorthgateDisused Stations; Retrieved 14 February 2016
2. Mouldsworth Station Coal Yard, Chester Chronicle, 4 Mar 1871, p5
3. Cheshire Observer, 5 June 1954, p4
4. Hotel - Mouldsworth Station Hotel - To be Let, Northwich Guardian, 13 May 1882, p4
5. Local Intelligence, Chester Observer, 5 Sep 1891, p4
6. Signalling Alterations 2006 www.signalbox.org; Retrieved 2008-12-17
7. Disused Stations - Manley Retrieved 19 November 2013
8. "Mouldsworth to Helsby memories" Sallery, Dave North Wales Coast Railway Notice Board November 2012; Retrieved 10 November 2016
9. Mouldsworth station details National Rail Enquiries
10. GB eNRT May 2017 Edition, Table 88

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Chester Northgate to Manchester. Middleton Press. figs. 14-18. ISBN 9781908174512. OCLC 892704846.

External links

• Train times and station information for Mouldsworth railway station from National Rail
• Mid-Cheshire Community Rail Partnership