Lower Ince railway station was a railway station in southern

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

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 Lancash ...

, England.

Location and construction

Lower Ince station was in a cutting on the south side of Ince Green Lane, a short distance from the LYR's rival station,

Ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

. The station was on the

Wigan Junction Railways The Wigan Junction Railways connected Glazebrook West Junction with the Lancashire Coalfields at Wigan. History The Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) was incorporated on 16 July 1874. It was to link the coalfields around Wigan with the Cheshire ...

(WJR) line from Glazebrook West Junction to Wigan. The WJR was part of the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

(later to become the

Great Central The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the L ...

) and opened on 1 April 1884, with other stations along the line. Lower Ince

Engine Shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

stood north west of the station. It closed on 26 March 1952.

Services

The service patterns in 1895, 1947 and 1962 are fully documented in the authoritative Disused Stations website. In April 1884 the service pattern was straightforward. Six "Down" (towards Wigan) trains called from Manchester Central. In addition, one "express" called at Glazebrook only and passed Lower Ince without stopping. Of the six, three called at all stations, the remaining three missed some stations between Manchester and Glazebrook. With the exception of the "express" all trains called at all stations between Glazebrook and Wigan. The "Up" service was similar. In 1922 six "Down" trains called, All Stations from Manchester Central on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays), with a further evening train from Lowton St Mary's only. Three other trains called, apparently All Stations from Culcheth, but it is possible they originated from

Liverpool Central Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...

or Warrington Central and turned west to north at Glazebrook West Junction. One of these trains ran on Fridays and Saturdays Only and the other two ran on Saturdays Only. The "Up" service was broadly similar, but the mix of Saturday Only trains was even more complicated. There was no Sunday service.

Closure and after

According to Beeching's ''Reshaping of British Railways'' the line was more heavily used than many which did not close, however, as with many unmodernised and heavily used commuter lines it was deemed uneconomic. The line's main passenger traffic was workers travelling from the Wigan area to industrial plants in Cadishead and Partington and around the docks in Salford and Manchester; until the late 1970s the Lancashire United bus company operated a replacement bus service from Wigan to Partington. The station closed completely on 2 November 1964 and has been demolished.

References

Sources

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External links