Besses o' th' Barn is a

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

in the suburban area of

Besses o' th' Barn Besses o' th' Barn ( ) is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 10,664. It lies between Radcliffe and Prestwich. Besses o' th' Barn tram stop is on the electrified l ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It is on the

Bury Line The Bury Line is a light rail/tram line on the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester. It runs from Manchester Victoria station to Bury Interchange in the north. The entire line runs along a converted heavy rail line, and was reopened with th ...

's light rail Metrolink system.

History

Although the line was built in 1879 by the

Lancashire & 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 ...

, it was not until 1 February 1933 that Besses o' th' Barn railway station was opened by 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 ...

, to cater for a large new housing development in the area. In 1992 the station, which had been on the British Rail network, was transferred to the Metrolink network. The station is in the network's Ticketing Zone 3. It is unique, as it is the only original station on the Bury-Manchester line to have one

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

. The original Totem Signs were the one of two to include lower case lettering, the other being London Road (Guildford).

Services

Services mostly run every 12 minutes on 2 routes, forming a 6-minute service between Bury and Manchester at peak times.

Connections

Go North West Go North West is a bus operator in Greater Manchester, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group, operating franchised Bee Network bus services on contract to Transport for Greater Manchester. History Go North West commenced operat ...

's frequent 135 service runs between Bury and

Manchester 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 ...

and stops adjacent to the station , as well as the Route 97 which runs between Bury and

via

Unsworth Unsworth is a settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Bury district, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of Unsworth Ward, as of the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census is 11,034. The village sits approximately north of ...

. Route 95, operated by Go North West runs between Pendleton and Whitefield and calls next to

Besses United Reformed Church Besses United Reformed Church is designated a Grade II building by Historic England. It is situated between Bury New Road and Bury Old Road at Besses o' th' Barn, an area of Whitefield, Greater Manchester, England. As of May 2025, the building ...

as does the Route 98, operated by Go North West which runs between Bury and

via Radcliffe and

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester, north of Salford and south of Bury. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ...

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

484 service also ran to Whitefield and to Eccles via Swinton until Late 2020.

References

External links

Besses o' th' Barn Stop InformationBesses o' th' Barn area map
{{Greater Manchester Metrolink stations Tram stops in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1933 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1991 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1992 Tram stops on the Altrincham – Bury route Tram stops on the Bury – Piccadilly route Besses o' th' Barn