Euxton Balshaw Lane railway station

Euxton Balshaw Lane
Location
Place	Euxton
Local authority	Chorley
Coordinates	53°39′39″N 2°40′18″W / 53.6607°N 2.6718°WCoordinates: 53°39′39″N 2°40′18″W / 53.6607°N 2.6718°W
Grid reference	SD557184
Operations
Station code	EBA
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	37,687
2005/06	42,957
2006/07	41,496
2007/08	43,887
2008/09	53,152
2009/10	47,704
2010/11	57,912
2011/12	61,342
2012/13	58,158
2013/14	58,582
2014/15	64,792
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
2 September 1905	Opened as Balshaw Lane and Euxton
6 October 1969	Closed
15 December 1997	Reopened as Euxton Balshaw Lane
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Euxton Balshaw Lane from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Euxton Balshaw Lane is situated in the village of Euxton /ˈɛkstən/, Lancashire, England. It is a local station on the West Coast Main Line on the stretch between Wigan and Preston.

History

The railway line between Wigan and Preston was opened by the North Union Railway (NUR) on 31 October 1838,^[1] and among the original stations was one at Euxton, close to the Bay Horse public house on the south side of Euxton Lane. The NUR was split up in 1888, part of it (including Euxton station) becoming wholly owned by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).^[2] Euxton station closed on 2 September 1895^[3] at the behest of the Anderton Family.

A 1913 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways around Preston, including Balshaw Lane & Euxton station (bottom right)

A new station named Balshaw Lane and Euxton, between Coppull and Leyland^[4] and about ¹⁄₂ mile (0.80 km) south of the original Euxton station, was opened by the LNWR on 2 September 1905.^[5]

Balshaw Lane & Euxton Station in 1964

Balshaw Lane & Euxton station was closed by British Rail on 6 October 1969^[5] as part of the Beeching review of the UK railway network.

Euxton also had a station at the Royal Ordnance Factory site, ROF Chorley, on the Preston to Manchester line which opened along with the factory in the 1930s; the station was named 'ROF Halt' and closed in 1965.

As well as this another station on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's line (Preston to Manchester) was built named 'Euxton Junction' which was near to the Pack Saddle Bridge. Access to this station was via a footbridge from next to today's gastro pub, 'The Railway at Euxton'. However, this station closed in 1895.

The present station

Services from the former Balshaw Lane and Euxton station restarted on 15 December 1997.^[6] It was officially reopened in 1998, (the opening ceremony being performed by former Radio 1 DJ and, latterly, Radio Lancashire presenter and transport enthusiast, Andy Peebles), and was now named Euxton Balshaw Lane. It has two platforms on the slower north/south lines of the West Coast Main Line and is served by the Northern company with trains to Blackpool North and Liverpool. Euxton Balshaw Lane does not have any full-time staff, PA system or ticket office, nor, unlike Horwich Parkway railway station, a station built around the same period, any clocks or display screens.

The use of "Balshaw Lane" in the station's name was added, at the time of opening, at Lancashire County Council's behest (the main station's sponsor and funder) in view of the possibility, at some future stage, of the opening of a station on the site of the Royal Ordnance Factory at Euxton and to distinguish itself (and avoid a subsequent name change) from that station. It was expected that the station at the ROF site might be named either "Euxton" or "Euxton ROF". In fact, the station that eventually opened in October 2011, on the Manchester-Preston route, is called Buckshaw Parkway.^[7]

Services

The station has a daily hourly service in each direction with 2 trains per hour in the peaks. Services run from Liverpool Lime Street to Blackpool North, with a number of services starting/terminating short at Preston instead of Blackpool and a number of services extending beyond Lime Street to Liverpool South Parkway.

References

1. Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 67. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
2. Marshall 1969, p. 77
3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
4. Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 24, section E2. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
5. Butt 1995, p. 26
6. Ellery, Bert (February 1998). Journal of the Transport Ticket Society (409): 61. Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. "Buckshaw Parkway railway station opens". BBC News Lancashire. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.

Further reading

• "Euxton Balshaw Lane is opened early". RAIL. No. 322 (EMAP Apex Publications). 14–27 January 1998. p. 11. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

• Train times and station information for Euxton Balshaw Lane railway station from National Rail