Parbold railway station, on the

Manchester to Southport Line Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, serves the village of Parbold and the nearby village of Newburgh in West

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is currently operated 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 ...

History

The station opened as Newburgh on 9 April 1855 when 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 ...

(L&YR) opened the line from to , the line and station had been planned, authorised and construction started by the

Manchester and Southport Railway The Manchester and Southport Railway in England was formed by an Act of 22 July 1847 to link Manchester and Southport. Before the line opened it was acquired jointly by the L&YR and the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) on 3 July 1854. Wigan are ...

before it was acquired by the L&YR on 3 July 1854. The main stone-built station building (still in use) was built during this time, in the standard L&YR style which had been described as "solid, substantial, well built of stone in the Elizabethan style, neat without undue ornament". It radically altered the village, allowing workers to live in Parbold and commute to urban areas throughout the North West. The railway station also provided a natural centre for the village which it still is today. Parbold railway station became part of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irela ...

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 ...

in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

. The station has retained its L&YR

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

, which operates the adjacent barrier

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

. In 2005 the railway station underwent a £250,000 restoration project which saw the ticket office restored to its former glory and new fences and CCTV installed.

Facilities

The station is staffed on a part-time basis, with the ticket office open from 06:30 to 11:00 on weekdays only (closed Saturdays and Sundays). At other times, tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on the train. Train running information can be obtained from timetable posters and by phone. There are shelters on both platforms and step-free access is available to each one.

Name

The station was originally named Newburgh after the nearest large village ( Newburgh) but this became Newburgh for Parbold and then Parbold for Newburgh. At this point Dalton wanted to also to be mentioned in the official name so the railway company decided to just call the station ''Parbold'' (this happened before 1910 as the station was called Parbold in the Bradshaw of that date). At one point however the station was again renamed as ''Parbold for Newburgh'' (see 1960s and 1980s British Railway timetables.) Finally on 5 May 1975 the station became once again plain ''Parbold''.

Services

On Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are two trains an hour westbound to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

and eastbound to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. Beyond here, services run via to either via

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 ...

or (services beyond there towards

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

and points south ended at the winter 2022 timetable change) Passengers for stations on the Atherton line now have to change at Wigan Wallgate on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays there is an hourly service to Southport and Blackburn via and Manchester Victoria.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{coord, 53.591, N, 2.771, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in the Borough of West Lancashire DfT Category E stations Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855 Railway stations served by Northern Parbold