Colne railway station serves the town of

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, which is situated close to Pendle Hill. The station, which is managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

, is the eastern terminus of the East Lancashire Line. Trains from Blackpool South run through Preston and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

and Colne. Currently the station only has a single platform and a shelter. The old station was demolished in 1971, after the closure of the line from Colne to

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

, which had occurred in the previous year.

History

The station opened on 2 October 1848, as the terminus of the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway from

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and .Binns, p.8 The station became an end-on junction with the East Lancashire Railway's ''Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington and Colne Extension Railway'', which opened on 1 February 1849. By 2 April in the same year the line was part of a through route between Leeds and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, but the majority of passenger trains east of Colne were local between Skipton and Colne.Suggitt, p.73 The station was rebuilt in 1883 with two engine sheds - one for the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

to the east, one for the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...

to the west (these two companies now owning the respective lines).Suggitt, p.75 In its heyday, the station had regular through links to both Blackpool termini, , , ,

Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England, is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was c ...

via and even through coaches to London Euston via , Manchester Victoria and . There were also summer dated services to/from (worked in conjunction with the London & North Eastern Railway prior to

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of the railways in 1948) and . However, these had all disappeared by the mid-1960s as a result of economies imposed by the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

, leaving only basic local services to/from , Manchester Victoria (via Blackburn) and Skipton. The Beeching cuts of 1964/5 reduced the services along the Skipton–Colne line, and on 2 February 1970 this section closed to all traffic. A year later the station was downgraded to an unstaffed halt following the dismantling of the route towards Earby, the singling of the surviving line from Nelson and the abandonment of the eastbound island platform - all trains henceforth used the former westbound platform, which had its buildings demolished & replaced by a simple waiting shelter. The remainder of the branch from ''Gannow Junction'' (near ) to Nelson was also reduced to single track in December 1986 and so the entire line from there is now operated as a "long siding" with no intermediate

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

s (this restricts the service frequency that can operate along the branch, as only one train can be on the branch at a time). Colne is therefore in the unusual position of having been a western terminus (1848-1849), a through station (1849-1970) and an eastern terminus (1970 to present). The Skipton - East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership campaigns to reinstate the Skipton–Colne line.

Facilities

Though unstaffed, the station now has a ticket machine in place to allow travellers to buy or collect tickets prior to travelling. Passenger information screens and a PA system have also been installed to provide train running information for users. A ramp provides step-free access from the station car park and main road to the platform.

Services

The station has an hourly service six days a week to Preston via serving all local stations en route. On Sundays only, trains continue through to - these used to run hourly, but since the winter 2022 timetable change have reverted to every two hours.

References

Bibliography

* Binns, D. (1984), ''Steam in Airedale'', Wyvern Publications, Skipton, * Frater, A. (1983) ''Stopping Train Britain - A Railway Odyssey'', Hodder & Staughton Ltd, London. * Rush, R.W., (1983), ''The East Lancashire Railway'', The Oakwood Press, * Suggitt, G. (2004 reprint), ''Lost Railways of Lancashire'', Countryside Books, Newbury, * Taylor, S., (1994), ''The Railways of Colne, Lancashire'', Scenes from the Past No. 23, Foxline Publishing,

External links

{{Borough of Pendle culture Railway stations in the Borough of Pendle DfT Category F1 stations Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848 Railway stations served by Northern Colne