Hindley railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that serves the town of Hindley in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. It is on the

Manchester to Southport line Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

line, west of where the route branches to use either the Atherton line or the Eastern Branch line via

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Lostock and

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

. The station is located west of

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 ...

with regular

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

services to these towns as well as

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, Swinton and

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 2014, ...

, with onward trains to

Kirkby Kirkby ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495 making it the largest ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

History

This station was opened on 20 November 1848 and was originally named ''Hindley''. It was renamed ''Hindley North'' on 1 July 1950 to differentiate it from Hindley South station on the line from Wigan Central to Glazebrook. Hindley South closed in November 1964, and Hindley North was renamed ''Hindley'' on 6 May 1968. There were also stations serving Hindley at

Platt Bridge Platt Bridge, colloquially known as Platt Wazz, is a settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, south of Wigan town centre along the spine of the A573 road. Historically part of the Hindley Urban District, i ...

and at

Hindley Green Hindley Green is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the village had decreased to 11,186 at the 2011 Census. The village lies to the east of Hindley, Greater Manchester, Hindley and is c ...

(both closed in 1961) on the line from Wigan North Western to Manchester Exchange, the residual "fast local" and express passenger service ceasing on 1 January 1968. At Hindley there are now two platforms in use, with the overgrown remains of two further platforms (for the fast lines taken out of use on 21 November 1965.)

Facilities

The car park has been enlarged but passenger numbers have increased so that it is probably in need of further enlargement. The station is staffed on a part-time basis, with the booking office open from the start of service until early afternoon. Outside these hours, tickets must be bought in advance or on the train. The station is not accessible for disabled travellers (as both platforms can only be accessed via stairs or stepped ramps) and has passenger information screens on each platform, along with an automated public address system to offer train running details.

Friends of Hindley Station

Garden, Hindley railway station (geograph 4531653)

There is now a "Friends of Hindley Station" group, formed in 2007, whose aim is to promote the use of the station by improvements. The group have had several weekend clearing sessions. During one such session a large nameplaque made of stones on the station banking was uncovered. The results objectively can be considered spectacular, evidenced by the number of "in bloom" and landscaping awards won. Also, partially as a result of their input, there was a direct link to

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

from December 2008. This ended at the May 2018 timetable change and intending travellers now have to change at Manchester Piccadilly or Salford Crescent to reach the airport.

Services

There are three trains per hour to

during Monday to Saturday daytimes (with extra calls at peak periods) - two via Atherton and one via Bolton (serving most local stations south of there). Some of them continue onward to and then either or , whilst there is one train each hour to

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

and via Bolton. Most Leeds-bound trains run through without calling. In the opposite direction there are four trains each hour to Wigan, with an hourly service to Kirkby and two per hour to Southport via Wallgate and one that terminates at . During the evenings there are two services to Manchester (one on each route) and to Wigan, of which one extends to Southport (there are no services to Kirkby after 19:00). From December 2019, most services to Wigan will run via or terminate at Wallgate, with just a few early morning and evening trains to North Western. Services to/from Southport will run predominantly via Bolton, save for a small number of peak and late evening workings via Atherton. On Sundays there are two trains each hour to Manchester Victoria via Atherton and two trains per hour to Wigan (hourly beyond to Southport). Weekend services via Bolton were suspended and replaced by buses due to the ongoing (and seriously delayed) work to electrify the

Manchester to Preston Line Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

until the end of 2018, but have now resumed. These operate to Wigan N.W and Victoria once per hour.

Electrification

In December 2013 it was announced that the line was to be electrified by 2017. A September 2016 update moved the completion date with GRIP Stage 3 being completed by then. On 1 September 2021, it was formally announced the project was proceeding. This means overhead wires will soon going through the station.

References

External links

{{Greater Manchester main railway stations Railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan DfT Category E stations Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Northern franchise railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848