Hough Green 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 ...
to the west of
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
in
Halton,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, England. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
as a designated Grade
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The station is on the
Liverpool–Warrington–Manchester line east of and all trains serving it are operated by
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...
.
History
The line through the station site opened for freight on 1 March 1873 and for passengers on 1 August 1873 when the
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire a ...
opened the line between and .
The station was opened for passengers and goods on 1 May 1874.
The station became a junction station on 1 July 1879 when Hough Green Junction was opened to the east, the junction gave access to the
Widnes loop line owned by the
Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee
The Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1869 as a joint venture between the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
Origins
For many years the Midland had b ...
, two of the three companies that jointly owned the
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire a ...
.
The station is located where the line is bridged by Liverpool Road, now the B5178. The main station building is of the "common twin-pavilion type adopted by the CLC" with a larger, two-storey, projecting pavilion forming a house and a smaller single-storey one. Linking them is an entrance hall, ticket office and three-bay iron-arcaded waiting shelter. The building is decorated with elaborately fretted bargeboards. The station was equipped with a carved stone drinking fountain.
It had two platforms, both accessed by steps and a ramp down from the road overbridge, the Liverpool bound platform could also be accessed from the road access to the station building, on either side of two running lines, the Liverpool platform had a siding at its back that was not available for passenger use There was a goods yard to the south of the lines and east of the station. The goods yard was able to accommodate most types of goods, including livestock, it was equipped with a five-ton crane.
By 1894 the station was renamed ''Hough Green for Ditton'' and then renamed back to ''Hough Green'' on 6 May 1974. The station closed to goods traffic on 6 June 1964. The
Widnes loop line closed on 5 October 1964.
Facilities
The station, like other
Merseytravel
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...
stations, is staffed full-time (06:00 - 00:10 weekdays, 08:40 - 22:40 Sundays). There is a car park outside. Part of the station building is occupied by a taxi firm.
The eastbound platform features the original brick-built waiting room which is still in use. Train running information is provided by automated announcements and digital display screens; there is step-free access only on the westbound side.
Services
Services operate approximately half-hourly (Monday-Saturday daytimes) in each direction, towards and
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
to the west and towards Widnes and
Manchester Oxford Road
Manchester Oxford Road railway station is a railway station in Manchester, England, at the junction of Whitworth Street West and Oxford Street. It opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. It is the second busiest of the four stations in Manchest ...
in the east. Services are less frequent in the late evenings and on Sundays, usually every 60 minutes. Most services are operated by
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...
.
The station is within the
Liverpool City Region
The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority region of England, centred on Liverpool, incorporating the local authority district boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral. The region is in the historic counties of ...
with tickets issued by
Merseytravel
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...
.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Widnes
Widnes is an industrial town in the Halton (borough), Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey where it narrows at River Mersey#Runcorn Gap, Runcorn Gap. The town contains 24 buildings that are recorded i ...
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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External links
{{Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway
Railway stations in the Borough of Halton
DfT Category E stations
Former Cheshire Lines Committee stations
Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire
Grade II listed railway stations
Northern franchise railway stations
Buildings and structures in Widnes
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874