Smithy Bridge railway station

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 34 miles (20.5 km) north of Manchester Victoria on the way to Leeds.

Smithy Bridge
Smithy Bridge railway station
LocationSmithy Bridge, Rochdale
England
Grid referenceSD925151
Managed byNorthern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeSMB
ClassificationDfT category F1
Key dates
1868
1960
1985
Original station opened
Closed
Current station opened
Passengers
2015/16 0.149 million
2016/17 0.168 million
2017/18 0.167 million
2018/19 0.198 million
2019/20 0.205 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, but there are ticket machines available to allow intending passengers to purchase or collect tickets prior to travelling. Both platforms have waiting shelters and step-free access.[1]

Services

There is a basic half-hourly service (with peak period extras) from the station to Manchester Victoria southbound and to Todmorden northbound on weekdays. From there, trains continue alternately to Blackburn via Burnley Manchester Road and to Leeds via Brighouse. Most westbound services run beyond Manchester to Wigan Wallgate and Southport.

In the early morning & evenings trains to Leeds run via Halifax but on the same frequency, whilst in Sundays the service is hourly and provided by the Southport/Manchester to Blackburn trains.[2] From the December 2019 timetable change, services will start or terminate at Wigan westbound, with passengers needing to change there for onward connections to Southport.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Rochdale   Northern
Caldervale Line
  Littleborough

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 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) and the crossing is now automatic. Smithy Bridge Crossing box was closed early in 2014 and has since been demolished.[3]

Notes

  1. Smith Bridge station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 28 November 2016
  2. GB eNRT May 2019 Edition, Table 41
  3. "Train leaving Smithy Bridge (2015)" Thwaite, Peter Geograph.org; Retrieved 19 November 2016

References

  • The Weighvers Seaport by A W Colligan in association with George Kelsall (ISBN 0-9505577-0-6)
Railways in Rochdale
 Past, present and future 
Rossendale Lines
to Bacup
Calderdale Lines
to Calderdale
Broadley
Littleborough
Shawclough
and Healey
Smithy Bridge
Wardleworth
Rochdale
Newbold
Rochdale
Town Centre
Kingsway
Business Park
Milnrow
Newhey
Broadfield
Oldham Lines
to Oldham
Heywood
Castleton
Mills Hill
Middleton
Manchester Lines North
to Manchester

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