Colne railway station serves the town of

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, which is situated close to

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the Pe ...

. The station, which is managed by

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, is the eastern terminus of the

East Lancashire Line The East Lancashire line is a railway line in the Lancashire region of England, which runs between Preston and Colne, through Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley (Barracks and Central) and Nelson. The line formerly ran onto Skipton but this closed ...

. 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 Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

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 the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

, 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 The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was an early British railway company in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It built a line from near Bradford through and to . The Skipton–Colne Line closed in 1970, but the remainder of the line is ...

from

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

and .Binns, p.8 The station became an end-on junction with the

East Lancashire Railway East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street railway station, Bury Bolton Street, ...

'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 city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, 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. 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 its headquarters. It am ...

to the east, one for the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

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 ...

via and even through coaches to

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

via , Manchester Victoria and . There were also summer dated services to/from (worked in conjunction with the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

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 usually refers to pri ...

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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, 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 or ...

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

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 seven days a week to Preston via serving all local stations en route. On Sundays only, trains continue through to - these now run hourly (rather than two-hourly as before) since the December 2017 timetable change.

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 Northern franchise railway stations Colne