Todmorden railway station

Todmorden National Rail

The view from the street
Location
Place Todmorden
Local authority Calderdale
Coordinates 53°42′50″N 2°05′59″W / 53.7138°N 2.0997°W / 53.7138; -2.0997Coordinates: 53°42′50″N 2°05′59″W / 53.7138°N 2.0997°W / 53.7138; -2.0997
Grid reference SD935241
Operations
Station code TOD
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.297 million
2005/06 Increase 0.311 million
2006/07 Increase 0.338 million
2007/08 Increase 0.340 million
2008/09 Increase 0.416 million
2009/10 Increase 0.459 million
2010/11 Increase 0.525 million
2011/12 Increase 0.569 million
2012/13 Decrease 0.542 million
2013/14 Increase 0.548 million
2014/15 Increase 0.563 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone 5
History
Key dates Opened 1841 (1841)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Todmorden from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Todmorden railway station is in West Yorkshire, England, originally on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. It was built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway and is on the Caldervale Line 23 miles (37 km) west of Leeds and 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Manchester Victoria.

It was opened in March 1841 when the final portion of M&L main line between Manchester and Normanton through Summit Tunnel was completed. It became a junction in 1849 with the opening of a branch line westwards through the Cliviger Gorge to Burnley. This was later extended to join the East Lancashire Railway near Rose Grove, giving a direct route to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool.

For many years the station was served by express trains between Liverpool and York and local trains toward Preston, Bradford and Leeds, but since the Beeching cuts in the 1960s the basic service has been a local one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. In May 2015, a service from Manchester to Blackburn via Burnley began using the station.

Todmorden Curve

Todmorden station is located by a triangular junction between the lines to Manchester, Burnley and Halifax, with the station itself located on the line towards Manchester. From 1972 until 2015, there was no link between the Manchester and Burnley lines. Railway passengers wishing to travel between Manchester and Burnley had to change at Hebden Bridge or Blackburn.

The station was formerly served by local trains to/from Rose Grove and Preston, which were withdrawn in 1965 (the bay platform they once used can still be seen). The short curve that allowed trains to travel between the Manchester and Burnley was removed in 1972 when the line was re-signalled. Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.

A project to reinstate the Manchester-Burnley curve was first proposed in 2009,[1] although it was not until the end of 2011 that the finance was finally secured as part of the Regional Growth Fund initiative announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.[2] As first built, the curve ran from a junction approximately 66 feet (20 m) north-east of the viaduct 550 yards (500 m) and connected on to the Copy Pit line at Stanfield Hall Junction, near the footbridge on Stansfield Road (the remains of the curve can still be seen from this bridge).

During 2012 Network Rail began clearing the trackbed of vegetation to see what was involved in relaying the track. Some more track has become visible since this has taken place. This assessment concluded that it could be feasible to reinstate the curve, although the original alignment could not be used as the original curve was deemed to be too sharp - a suitable alternative route has however been found. Construction began in summer 2013, with the curve originally planned to be in use from the May 2014 timetable change,[3] delayed from the originally mooted date of the end of 2013,[4] allowing through trains to run from Burnley to Manchester Victoria in less than one hour. Services have since been further delayed due to a lack of available rolling stock and signalling work running behind schedule, and will now begin from the May 2015 timetable change.[5][6]

In addition to the work to lay in new track on the curve itself and a completely new junction at the Todmorden end, significant alterations to the signalling system have been required to allow trains to use the new curve (these were only fully completed in February 2015, which is why the curve could only be used by Burnley-bound trains when the curve was first brought into service). The area is controlled from Preston Power Signal Box. The first train to use the newly-commissioned connection was an enthusiasts' charter operated by Pathfinder Tours on 31 May 2014.[7] A regular service began using the curve in May 2015.[8]

Services

The view from platform 2

Until 12 December 2008, Monday to Saturday daytime there was a half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via Halifax eastbound.

Service changes from December 2008

Northern Rail made changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour now run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - the stopping service that ran prior to the timetable change, calling at all stations via Halifax; via Dewsbury and Brighouse, stopping at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton; and a limited stop service between Bradford and Manchester, calling at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale only.[9]

There is an hourly service to Leeds (via Halifax) in the evenings and two trains per hour to Manchester in the evenings and on Sundays.

From the May 2014 timetable change the station gained an additional service each hour to and from the Manchester direction, which will likely be the one to be extended to and from Burnley & Blackburn come May 2015 (and subsequently did so at the spring 2015 timetable change). This working is the one that formerly terminated at Rochdale - it runs through from Kirkby eastbound and returns to Wigan Wallgate.[10]

Services from May 2015

In May 2015, a direct service from Manchester to Burnley & Blackburn began calling at the station.[11][12]

Future services

Under plans submitted by the new Northern Rail franchisee Arriva Rail North, further service improvements on the Caldervale line will be introduced in December 2017. These include an extra train per hour from Todmorden to both Manchester & Bradford/Leeds during the day, extra evening services on all routes and new through services to Chester and Liverpool Lime Street (marketed under the "Northern Connect" brand).[13][14]

Facilities

There is a ticket office on platform 1 and waiting rooms on both platforms. Information screens were installed in 2012 as part of a programme to provide screens at 18 stations on the Caldervale line and elsewhere in West Yorkshire.[15] Previously, passengers had to rely on automated public-address system announcements. The waiting room has a ginger cat called Dinky available for petting.[16]

Platform One Gallery is located at the station, an art gallery run by Todmorden Art Group, which is a non profit making organisation. It runs exhibitions on a 4-weekly cycle, and is open to the public Thursday-Sunday 11 am-4 pm. It has 11 studios and 2 painting groups.

References

Notes

  1. "Green Light for East Lancashire Rail Improvements". Lancashire Telegraph. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  2. Magill, Peter (31 October 2011). "Major boost as £9million rail link cash announced for Burnley". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  3. "Todmorden Curve journeys to start after May 2014". Lancashire Telegraph. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  4. "Todmorden Curve could be Running by 2013". Lancashire Telegraph. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. Lack of Trains to hold up new £8.8 million Todmorden Curve Magill, Peter Lancashire Telegraph article 23 October 2013; Retrieved 23 January 2014
  6. East Lancs MP slams Todmorden Curve Rail Link Delays Adams, Chris Lancashire Telegraph article 13 August 2014; Retrieved 21 August 2014
  7. The Topper Chopper - First passenger train: Todmorden Viaduct Junction - Stansfield Hall Junction, Saturday 31 May 2014 www.hall-royd-junction.co.uk; Retrieved 16 June 2014
  8. BBC - Rail link reopens from Manchester to Burnley
  9. "WYPTE Report - Proposed Northern December 2008 Timetable" (PDF). 16 May 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  10. Northern Rail Timetable 26 Todmorden - Rochdale - Manchester 18 May - 13 December 2014Northern Rail; Retrieved 16 June 2014
  11. Direct trains from Rochdale and Manchester to Burnley will run from May 17 Thacker, Simon; Manchester Evening News article 17 February 2015; Retrieved 6 March 2015
  12. Northern Rail timetable - Manchester Victoria to Blackburn via Todmorden from 17 May 2015Northern Rail; Retrieved 20 May 2015
  13. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT
  14. Arriva chosen to run and expand Northern franchise from next year Rail Technology Magazine; Retrieved 17 December 2015
  15. Customer Information Enhancements at Rail Stations
  16. http://www.saysavanh.viewbug.com/photo/31520741

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Todmorden railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Walsden   Northern
Caldervale Line
  Hebden Bridge or
Terminus
Littleborough    
Rochdale    
Walsden or
Littleborough or
Rochdale
  Northern
Todmorden-Wigan Wallgate/Kirkby
  Terminus
Walsden   Northern
via Todmorden Curve
  Burnley Manchester Road
Historical railways
Walsden
Line and station open
  L&YR
Caldervale Line
  Eastwood
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Stansfield Hall
Line and station closed
  L&YR
Copy Pit Line
  Terminus
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.