Clitheroe railway station

Clitheroe railway station serves the town of Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. The station is the northern terminus of the Ribble Valley Line / Clitheroe Line operated by Northern Trains and is 10 miles (16 km) north of Blackburn. The station forms part of Clitheroe Interchange, which has won a number of awards.

Clitheroe
Clitheroe railway station
LocationClitheroe, Ribble Valley
England
Grid referenceSD741419
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeCLH
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
22 June 1850Original station opened
1893/4Station rebuilt
10 September 1962Station closed
29 May 1994Station reopened
Passengers
2015/16 0.240 million
2016/17 0.284 million
2017/18 0.271 million
2018/19 0.264 million
2019/20 0.305 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The original station opened on 22 June 1850. It was replaced in 1893/4 by another approximately 220 yards (200 m) to the north. The station closed to normal services on 10 September 1962 (that is, before the Beeching cuts) but remained in use for special services until 7 February 1971. The special services resumed on 14 May 1990, and the station was fully reopened on 29 May 1994, when passenger services began again from Blackburn.[1]

The line from here continues northwards towards Hellifield, but this section is normally used only by freight and engineering trains on weekdays; passenger services are limited to a pair of Sundays only Dalesrail charter trains and occasional railtours. The line also forms part of a valuable strategic diversionary route between Preston and Carlisle, which is utilised if planned engineering work blocks the West Coast Main Line over Shap. It has also been used in emergency for unplanned work between these locations. Terminating trains from the Blackburn direction run empty up to Horrocksford Junction to the north (where the former Ribble Cement (now Hansons) factory branch diverges from the main line) and use the crossover there to reverse and change lines prior to returning to the station.[2]

The station has since become an award-winning bus and train transport interchange. The bus station, known as the Clitheroe Interchange, is the terminus for bus connections bringing passengers from towns and villages in the Ribble Valley area to the train service to Blackburn and Manchester. The Ribble Valley Line is a community railway line and is supervised by the Ribble Valley Rail group, which includes the train operator Northern.

Facilities

The station had a ticket office, which was next to the old station building (which is used as an art gallery). The ticket office, operated by Lancashire County Council rather than operator Northern permanently closed from February 2020.[3] It was manned Monday to Friday. All tickets must now be purchased via mobile device or from the ticket machine on Platform 1. There are waiting shelters on both platforms (which are offset from each other) and train running details are provided via digital screens, signage, customer help points and automatic announcements. Step-free access is available on both sides.[4]

Services

All train services are operated by Northern Trains. There is generally an hourly service daily from Clitheroe to Rochdale via Blackburn and Manchester Victoria with some extra trains during weekday peak hours.[5] Northern operate a variety of train types on the route, including Class 142, Class 150, Class 153, Class 156, Class 158 units.

For much of 2017 and 2018, Saturday and Sunday services to Manchester have either been partially replaced by buses south of Bolton or diverted via Accrington and Todmorden due to the Manchester to Preston Line being closed for electrification work.[6]

On Sundays, one or two trains operate from Preston along the Ribble Valley Line via Clitheroe to Hellifield and onwards towards Carlisle via the Settle-Carlisle Line. This improves on the previous service that only ran in the summer.[7]

Due to overcrowding at certain times, there are plans from the Department for Transport to increase services from 1 tph to 2 tph; however, the funding for this may not be available.

  • The old station building, now converted into the Platform Gallery.
  • A view of platform 2 from the Platform Gallery.
  • A view of the old goods depot, now Booths supermarket.

Notes
  1. Butt 1995, p. 63
  2. Horrocksford Junction Crawford, Ewan Railscot 19 April 2008; Retrieved 8 April 2017
  3. "Clitheroe's ticket office to close permanently next week". www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. Clitheroe station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  5. Table 94 National Rail timetable, May 2018
  6. "Manchester - Bolton - Preston route improvement works" Archived 30 July 2018 at the Wayback MachineNorthern website news article June 2018; Retrieved 30 July 2018
  7. "Dalesrail 2013 timetable change". December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014.

References
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1-870754-61-1
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Terminus or
Hellifield
(Sundays only)		   Northern Trains
Ribble Valley Line		   Whalley
  Historical railways  
Chatburn   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Blackburn Railway		   Whalley

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