Moses Gate railway station

Moses Gate railway station serves the Moses Gate suburb of Farnworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, North West England.

Moses Gate
Moses Gate railway station in 2018, following completion of electrification works.
LocationFarnworth, Bolton
England
Grid referenceSD734067
Managed byNorthern
Transit authorityTransport for Greater Manchester
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeMSS
ClassificationDfT category F2
Passengers
2015/16 10,354
2016/17 21,882
2017/18 19,030
2018/19 24,308
2019/20 33,636
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It lies on the Manchester-Preston Line 1 1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) south of Bolton, though only local services run by Northern call here.

Until the late 1970s, Moses Gate was one of the more important stations on the line between Manchester Victoria and Bolton, with Sunday service and high patronage.[1] But due to clearance of much housing in the area, use has declined (see Strategic Rail Authority figures) although it retains an hourly service (see National Rail Timetable). Moses Gate is the nearest railway station to the village of Little Lever. The station was staffed until the early 1990s, but the station buildings were badly damaged in an arson attack and subsequently demolished. It is now unmanned and has no ticketing facilities (passengers intending to travel must buy tickets in advance or on the train). Shelters and timetable posters are located on both platforms; though there are ramps to each platform, the National Rail Enquiries entry for the station states that it is not currently (December 2016) DDA-compliant.[2]

From early May 2015 until the December 2015 timetable change, services from the station were suspended and replaced by buses due to the ongoing modernisation work here (where the platforms have been rebuilt, ahead of planned electrification of the line) and on the route further south at Farnworth Tunnel. The station reopened on 14 December 2015.

Service
The station in 1989, with some of the original station buildings still intact.

Since the May 2018 timetable change, the service from here has seen some improvements (notably with the introduction of evening weekday trains for the first time in more than twenty years). A basic hourly service operates each way all day (with a few peak extras), southbound to Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge and northbound to Bolton and Wigan North Western.[3] From the winter timetable change in December 2019, the current service has been diverted to Wigan Wallgate and onward to Southport, with just a few early morning services running to Wigan N.W.

Saturday services were suspended and replaced by buses until November 2018 due to the (significantly delayed) ongoing work to electrify the route through Bolton.

Services at the station were also temporarily suspended between 28 August and 11 September 2017 due to a damaged road bridge near the station. A fractured water main caused part of the embankment and retaining wall supporting the bridge to collapse onto the track and damaged both the bridge supports and road surface.[4] The line was not in use at the time due to a planned engineering blockade at Bolton - this was due to end on 28 August (and was completed on schedule), but following the incident the railway remained closed between Bolton and Salford Crescent whilst repairs were carried out. Replacement buses were in operation, with through trains diverted via alternative routes. The line reopened on 6 September 2017, though trains were still unable to call at the station as repairs to the access road were still ongoing. Normal working resumed five days later once these were completed.

There is no Sunday service.

Electrification

Following delays caused by geological problems and change of main contractor, electric services eventually commenced on Monday 11 February 2019, utilising Class 319 electric multiple units.[5] None of these trains however stop here.

References
  1. British Rail National Timetables 1973, 1974 and 1978 Editions
  2. Moses Gate station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 9 December 2016
  3. Table 82 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  4. "Emergency repairs to bridge means road and rail disruption in Bolton" Network Rail Media Centre press release 25 August 2017; Retrieved 29 August 2017
  5. 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.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bolton   Northern Trains
Manchester-Southport Line		   Farnworth

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