Golborne South railway station

This article is about Golborne's ex-London and North Western Railway station. For the ex-Great Central station, see Golborne North railway station.

Golborne South railway station was one of two stations serving the town of Golborne, to the south of Wigan.

Golborne South
General information
Location	Golborne, Wigan England
Coordinates	53°28′42″N 2°35′42″W / 53.478425°N 2.595052°W / 53.478425; -2.595052
Grid reference	SJ606981
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	North Union Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
by 19 October 1839	Station opened as "Golborne Gate"
by 1847	Station known as "Golborne"
1 February 1949	Renamed "Golborne South"
2 February 1961	Station closed to passengers
22 May 1967	Station closed completely

v t e North Union Railway
Legend
1834 – 1889
Lancaster & Preston Jn Rly to Lancaster Maxwell House ( closed 1844 ) Preston Preston Butler Street (ELR) Victoria Quay goods Preston Fishergate Hill (WLR) River Ribble West Lancashire Railway to Southport East Lancashire Railway to Liverpool Farrington (renamed Farington) Blackburn & Preston Rly to Blackburn Golden Hill (renamed Leyland) Euxton junction Lancashire Union Railway to Blackburn Euxton (NUR) Euxton (B&PR) Coppull Chorley Rawlinson Bridge Standish Lane (renamed Standish) Adlington White Bear Blackrod Red Rock Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly to Horwich and Horwich Works Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly to Hindley Boar's Head Liverpool and Bury Railway to Hindley Lancashire Union Railway to Hindley Lostock Junction Bolton Trinity Street Manchester, Bolton & Bury Rly to Salford Wigan Wigan Goods Springs branch Liverpool and Bury Railway to Liverpool Lancashire Union Railway to Hindley Ince Moss Junction London & North Western Rly to Manchester Lancashire Union Railway to St Helens Bamfurlong Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly to St Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancs Rly to Lowton St Mary's Golborne LNWR Winwick cut-off (opened 1864) Preston Junction (renamed Lowton) Liverpool & Manchester Rly to Manchester Parkside (second) Liverpool & Manchester Rly to Liverpool Parkside (original) London & North Western Rly to Warrington
North Union Railway and predecessor: Bolton and Preston Railway Other lines (not all shown): Great Central Railway predecessors: Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and predecessors: Blackburn and Preston Railway East Lancashire Railway (1844–1859) West Lancashire Railway Manchester and Leeds Railway predecessors: Liverpool and Bury Railway Manchester, Bolton and Bury Railway London and North Western Railway and predecessors: Lancashire Union Railway Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway Liverpool and Manchester Railway

The early line and station to 1849

The line was opened by the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR) in 1832 from Parkside to Wigan as a single track with passing places although the trackbed had been engineered for double track.^[1] In 1834 the WBR became part of the North Union Railway (NUR) and they doubled the track in time for the opening of the line northwards to Preston in 1838.^[2]

The line had opened two years after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) with which it connected at Parkside, it was operated under contract by the L&MR and likely followed L&MR practices.^[3] On the L&MR intermediate stopping places were neither advertised nor provided with facilities, they were mostly situated at level crossings where a policeman or gateman was permanently on duty, passengers wishing to use the stopping place informed the staff who signalled the requirement to stop to the train crew, ^[4][5]

The WBR had one crossing on the level, at Golborne, 1 mile 72 chains (3.1 km) from Parkside,^[a][6] where the Warrington to Wigan turnpike crossed the railway at a gated level crossing known as Golborne Gates and this would have been an identified stopping place on the line and therefore may have operated as a station in the same way as on the L&MR.^[7] A more formal station was probably opened as Golborne Gate or Gates by the North Union Railway (NUR) probably sometime before 1839 as the station started to appear on the maps in Bradshaw from then, fares to intermediate stations, including Golbourne Gate [sic] were published in 1839.^[b][9][11] By 1847 the station was known as Golborne and it appeared in Bradshaw in a route-table with times for the trains shown. There were four services from the station northbound to Preston and southbound to both Liverpool and Manchester on weekdays.^[c][12] As late as 1849 the OS map shows the level crossing but no station or structure.^[13][14]

From 1 January 1846 the NUR was leased jointly by the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) and the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR). Later in 1846 the leases passed, by amalgamation from the GJR to the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) and from the M&LR to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.^[15][16]

L&NWR from 1850

The L&NWR replaced the level crossing with a road overbridge carrying High Street/Church Road (which became the A573), on a slightly further north alignment sometime around 1867-68.^[d] The station was rebuilt sometime between the new road being completed and the OS map being issued in 1893.^{[e][7][19][20]} The station was built on the original lines of the WBR which became the slow lines when the line was quadrupled, the fast lines by-passed the station to the east. The station building was on the east side platform, to the south of the road overbridge which crossed the platforms about half-way along their length. The building was a two-storey brick-built building accessed from the bridge with the booking hall at road level, steps went down to each platform, the west-side platform steps descending from a pedestrian bridge crossing the lines. There was a brick built shelter on each platform.^[7][21]

During the late 1800s more railways opened and traffic increased.^[f] The line through Golborne, as part of the main western trunk route to Scotland, became congested and between 1888 and 1894 the lines through the station site were quadrupled.^[7]

There were two signal boxes in the station vicinity one to the south west of the running lines that controlled the goods yard, and one to the north of the eastern platform, between the slow and fast lines, which controlled access to Golborne Colliery. The goods yard had two, later three sidings on the west side of the running lines and a warehouse, it was able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock and was equipped with a five ton crane.^[24][25]

In 1895 there were 11 local services on weekdays in each direction, northbound all going to Wigan and southbound to Warrington except for one service, the 1453, which went to Liverpool Lime Street.^[26]

In 1922 thirteen services called at Golborne in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays, most were local services. Northbound they mainly started from Warrington, with two starting from Crewe, two from Liverpool Lime Street and one from Hartford. All went to Wigan, three terminated at Preston and one at Carlisle. Southbound they mostly started from Wigan, the first train, the 0628, began at Preston and the 0710 started from Golborne itself. Destinations were mostly Warrington with two services running short journeys to Earlestown and one going onto Hartford. There were two Sunday services in each direction.^[27]

Post L&NWR to station closure

Services under the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) remained much the same as previously, in 1939 there were 17 services in each direction on weekdays, mostly local trains between Warrington and Wigan with one service from Liverpool, one from Crewe and a few shortened services terminating at Newton-le-Willows, there were slightly less trains on Saturdays and six on Sundays.^[28]

The station was renamed Golborne South on 1 January 1949 to avoid confusion with the close by ex-Great Central/LNER Golborne North station. The station closed to passengers on 6 February 1961 and to goods traffic on 22 May 1967.^[8][29]

Post-closure

Local passenger traffic ceased between Crewe and Preston via Earlestown on 6 October 1969.^[30]

The lines through the station site were electrified as part of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) modernisation in 1974.^[31][32]

The lines through the station site are still open in 2023.^[33]Transport for Greater Manchester announced a public consultation for January 2024 on building a new station on a site to the south of the previous station.^[34] No costs were given, although TfGM had in 2021 committed £16m to development and delivery of the station.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Wigan Chapel Lane		Wigan Branch Railway 1832 – 1834		Parkside
Wigan Chapel Lane		North Union Railway Wigan Branch Railway 1834 – 1838 Amalgamated		Parkside
Wigan Station re-sited and renamed		North Union Railway Wigan Branch Railway 1838 – 1847		Parkside
Wigan		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway 1847 – c1850 Leased line		North Union Junction New station
Wigan		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway c1850 – 1864 Leased line		Preston Junction Station renamed
Wigan		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway 1864 - 1877 Leased line		Preston Junction
				Warrington Bank Quay Winwick cut-off opened
Wigan		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway 1877 - 1878 Leased line		Lowton and Preston Junction Station renamed
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong New station		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway 1878 - 1880 Leased line		Lowton and Preston Junction
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong		London and North Western Railway North Union Railway 1880 - 1889 Leased line		Lowton Station renamed
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong		London and North Western Railway 1889 - 1923 NUR dissolved		Lowton
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong		London, Midland and Scottish Railway London and North Western Railway 1923 - 1948 Grouping		Lowton
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong		BR(LMR) London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1948 - 1949 Nationalisation		Lowton
				Warrington Bank Quay
Bamfurlong		BR(LMR) London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1948 - 1949 Station renamed Golborne South		Lowton
				Warrington Bank Quay
	Current situation
Bamfurlong Line open, station closed		Golborne South Line open, station closed in 1961		Lowton Line open, station closed
				Warrington Bank Quay Line and station open

References

Notes

1. Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in miles and chains. A chain is 22 yards (20 m) long, there are 80 chains to the mile.
2. Gate according to Quick (2022), but labelled Gates in Bradshaw (1839 - 1844)^[8][9][10]
3. There were some connections available to Birmingham and London that utilised some train re-organisation, see Lowton for details.
4. Authority to do so was obtained under a Parliamentary Act of 1867.^[17]
5. No evidence ha been found of an opening date. It is likely that it opened on 1 April 1878, the same date as Bamfurlong a little further along the line as the construction of their main buildings is very similar, the Bamfurlong opening is documented.^[18]
6. For example, on the L&NWR freight traffic increased from 9 million to 35 million tons per year between 1865 and 1900, much of it on the main line.^[22] Passenger numbers increased considerably around this time as the population became more mobile, see Simmons (1995) for example.^[23]

Citations

1. Sweeney 2008, p. 11.
2. Sweeney 2008, p. 14.
3. "Opening of the Wigan Branch Railway". Preston Chronicle. 25 August 1832. p. 1. Retrieved 20 August 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Biddle & Spence 1977, p. 7.
5. Thomas 1980, p. 128.
6. "Engineer's Line Reference CGJ5 Carlisle Grand Junction Line (WCML Crewe to Carlisle) including Golborne station". Railway Codes. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
7. Sweeney 2008, p. 37.
8. Quick 2022, p. 212.
9. Bradshaw 1839, p. 15.
10. Bradshaw 1843, p. 44.
11. Reed 1969, p. 55.
12. Bradshaw 1847, p. 33.
13. "Golborne and Golborne Gates on OS Six-inch map Lancashire CII (includes: Golborne; Leigh.)". National Library of Scotland. 1849. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
14. Sweeney 2008, pp. 11 & 38.
15. Greville 1981, p. 11.
16. Casserley 1968, pp. 143–146.
17. "Local Act, 30 & 31 Victoria I, c. cxliv:An Act for conferring additional Powers on the London and North-western Railway Company in relation to their own Undertaking and the Undertakings of other Companies; and for other Purposes". UK Parliament Parliamentary Archives. UK Parliament. 1867. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
18. Quick 2022, p. 65.
19. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45.
20. "Golborne station on OS 25 inch map Lancashire CII.9 (Golborne)". National Library of Scotland. 1893. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
21. Pixton 1999, p. 29.
22. Biddle 1997, p. 332.
23. Simmons 1995, pp. 316–317.
24. Sweeney 2008, pp. 36 & 40.
25. The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 231.
26. Bradshaw 2011, p. 328.
27. Bradshaw 1985, pp. 412–5.
28. LMS Railway 1939, table 61.
29. Clinker 1978, p. 55.
30. Hurst 1992, p. 60 (ref 2685).
31. British Railways Board 1968, p. 83.
32. British Railways Board 1974.
33. Network Rail. "Table T051-F Scotland, The North East, North West England - The South West and South Coast" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
34. "A new rail station for Golborne". Retrieved 26 December 2023.

Sources

• Biddle, Gordon; Spence, Jeoffry (1977). The British Railway Station. Railway History in Pictures. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0715374672.
• Biddle, Gordon (1997). "Multiple tracks". In Simmons, Jack; Biddle, Gordon (eds.). The Oxford Companion to British Railway History From 1603 to the 1990s (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 332. ISBN 0-19-211697-5.
• Bradshaw, George (25 October 1839). Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables and assistant to railway Travelling with illustrative maps & plans. London: Shepherd and Sutton, and Wyld.
• Bradshaw, George (1843). Bradshaw's Railway Companion, containing the times of departure, fares, &c. of the railways in Great Britain and Ireland. London: Bradshaw's Railway Information Office.
• Bradshaw, George (1 March 1847). Bradshaw's Monthly Railway and Steam Navigation Guide for Great Britain, Ireland and the Continent. London: Bradshaw's General Railway Publication Office.
• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Bradshaw, George (2011) [December 1895]. Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland December 1895: A Reprint of the Classic Timetable Complete with Period Advertisements and Shipping Connections to All Parts. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-908174-11-6. OCLC 832579861.
• British Railways Board (1974). Electric All The Way (PDF). British Railways Board.
• British Railways Board (April 1968). Route Improvements Electrification: Weaver Junction to Glasgow (PDF) (Report). British Railways Board.
• Casserley, H. C. (1968). Britain's Joint Lines. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0024-7.
• Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1977. Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 0-905466-19-5. OCLC 5726624.
• Greville, M.D. (1981). Chronology of the Railways of Lancashire and Cheshire (Revised and Combined ed.). Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 0 901461 30 X.
• Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948-1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. ISBN 0-9477-9618-5.
• LMS Railway (1939). London Midland & Scottish Passenger Railway Timetable- July 3rd to September 24th, inclusive, 1939. London: LMS.
• Pixton, Bob (1999). Main Line Railways Around Wigan. Runpast Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870754-45-3.
• Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
• Reed, Brian (1969). Crewe to Carlisle. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 07110 0057 3.
• Simmons, Jack (1995). The Victorian Railway (1st Paperback ed.). London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-28810-8.
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012). Railway Atlas Then and Now. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3695-6.
• Sweeney, Dennis (2008). The Wigan Branch Railway. Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9550030-35.
• The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.
• Thomas, R. H. G. (1980). The Liverpool & Manchester Railway. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-0537-6.

Further reading

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Both Golborne stations on an Edwardian 25" OS map National Library of Scotland
• Golborne station via Wigan World
• Golborne station on a 1948 OS Map via npe Maps
• Golborne station via Disused Stations UK