The Manchester–Preston line runs from the city of
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 ...
to
Preston, Lancashire
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...
, England. It is largely used by commuters entering Manchester from surrounding
suburbs
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
and cities, but is also one of the main railway lines in the North West and is utilised by
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...
regional services and to
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It was announced in December 2009 that the line would be electrified, following an announcement in July 2009 that the
Chat Moss line between Manchester and Liverpool was to be electrified first. The electrification work for this line commenced in May 2015 and was due for completion in May 2018,
but was delayed until December 2018.
Electric service commenced on 11 February 2019.
The line is one of the busiest in the North West, with eight trains per hour in each direction during the off-peak daytime timetable. The line speed is currently 100 mph.
There is a large variety of rolling stock on this line, current rolling stock include Classes 150, 156, 158 and 195 DMUs, 331 and 397 EMUs and 769 and 802 BMUs. Former rolling stock on this line include Classes 142, 153, 175, 180 and 185 DMUs and 319 and 350 EMUs.
History
The line was opened as far as Bolton in 1838 by the
Manchester and Bolton Railway
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 183 ...
, then extended in 1841 by the
Bolton and Preston Railway
The Bolton and Preston Railway (B&PR) connected Bolton and Preston, Lancashire, Preston, in Lancashire, England. Its authorising act of Parliament forbade its early completion to protect the North Union Railway (NUR) and imposed other restrictio ...
. These were amalgamated, via the
East Lancashire Railway
The 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, , Summerseat and Ramsbott ...
, as part of the
Lancashire and 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 ...
.
Route
The route now has 2 starting points in Manchester:
*
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...
, which offers rail links to most large cities in the country. Trains using the route will call at the through platforms 13 and 14 on the west side of the station. It then follows the route of the
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway
The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Manchester Piccadilly station, Piccadilly) in Manches ...
as far as , where it uses the
Windsor link to reach and joins the line from
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 c ...
.
*
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 c ...
was the original starting point before the Windsor Link was created. It goes through
Salford Central, after which it then joins the line from the Windsor Link and enters
Salford Crescent.
The route then continues to
Clifton, and then passes through
Kearsley
Kearsley ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 14,212. Within the Historic County of Lancashire, it lies northwest of Manchester, ...
,
Farnworth
Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester.
Within the historic county of Lancashire, Farnworth lies on ...
and
Moses Gate
Moses Gate is a small district of Farnworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies southeast of Bolton town centre and northwest of the city of Man ...
following the
Irwell Valley
The Irwell Valley in North West England extends from the Forest of Rossendale through the cities of Salford and Manchester. The River Irwell runs through the valley, along with the River Croal.
Geology
Shallow seas covered most of south-east ...
for much of the route. The first major town is
Bolton
Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
. Just after
Bolton station there is a junction to the right where the
Ribble Valley line
The Ribble Valley line is a railway line that runs from through , in Lancashire, to in North Yorkshire. Regular passenger services normally run as far as , but occasional passenger services run the whole line through north Lancashire to Hell ...
, a single track line, heads off to Blackburn and Clitheroe. The line cuts through the western suburbs of Bolton including
Lostock, where trains to Wigan Wallgate via Westhoughton, branch off. Next is
Horwich Parkway opened in 1999 and
Blackrod
Blackrod is a town and civil parish situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Nestled in the historic County of Lancashire, Blackrod is positioned 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of Wigan and 6.6 mi ...
(where the former
Horwich Branch diverged). It then proceeds through the town of
Adlington and on to
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
, passing through , which opened in 2011 and finally joins the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
at Euxton Junction before continuing via Leyland to
Preston.
Operators
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...
operate local services over the full length of the line. These include limited stop workings from and via to , along with to services and a limited number of to and trains.
Other workings use part of the line only - e.g. to and via (which diverge at ), to and (diverge at Bolton) and / to via (diverge at Lostock Junction).
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...
(TPX) used to operate the semi-fast to , and services prior to the 2016 franchise change. TPX now only operate express trains to and . These were temporarily diverted to via and Chat Moss but resumed in May 2019 after the completion of the electrification of this line.
[
]Avanti West Coast
First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading name, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
In November 2016, the Department for Tra ...
, and formerly Virgin Trains West Coast
Virgin Trains (VT) (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise fro ...
, services occasionally use this line (non-stop) when the West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
is closed via on their main Scotland to London route via .
Other TOCs operate along the southern section of the route to Ordsall Lane Jn and go on to Warrington:
* Transport for Wales Rail
Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Governme ...
operate services en route to via and .
* East Midlands Railway
East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise.
Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...
also operate services between and
Freight and diversions
The line is an important diversionary route at weekends, used in conjunction with the Crewe–Manchester line to divert away from a large section of the West Coast Main Line if required. The convenience is that this only adds 35–40 minutes to a journey and negates the need for costly bus replacement services. Some freight still uses this line (such as stone trains from the Peak District to a distribution terminal at Hope St., Salford
Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
and "Bin-liner" refuse trains from Pendleton to Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...
), especially during the peak periods during the day. It is, however, a primary passenger route in the North West of England.
Trains
Class 185 trains were the most frequent units on the line: working for First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the maj ...
to , and . In the other direction, they all worked to although engineering works resulted in some services working to instead.
Prior to 2007, Class 175 trains worked the majority of these services before the 185s took over. Between May 2001 and December 2006, they worked all and services and the majority of the services. However, they never worked to Scotland due to this being a Virgin CrossCountry
Virgin CrossCountry was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Along with the InterCity West Coast franchise held by a separate legal ...
service until December 2007.
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...
use mainly newer Class 397 Civitys on the line having replaced the older Class 350 units. Class 185 units still appear occasionally when the Class 397 Civity units are unavailable.
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...
operate a variety of rolling stock for their services, with Class 331s, Class 323s and Class 319. Northern also use Class 195s, Class 158s, Class 156s, Class 153s, Class 150s on the line. Most of the diesel services only use the line south of as these diverge onto the unelectrified lines, notably the Ribble Valley line
The Ribble Valley line is a railway line that runs from through , in Lancashire, to in North Yorkshire. Regular passenger services normally run as far as , but occasional passenger services run the whole line through north Lancashire to Hell ...
to and and the Manchester–Southport line
The Manchester–Southport line is a railway line in the north-west of England, operated by Northern Trains. It was originally built as the Manchester and Southport Railway. The section between Wigan and Salford is also known locally as the Athe ...
to .
Since December 2019, services between / and have been run using Class 331 units. Some Sunday services between and also use Class 331 units.
Electrification
Work on 25 kV OHL electrification of the line began in May 2015 and has included numerous bridgeworks plus the major undertaking of the re-boring of Farnworth Tunnel.[ Its high profile resulted in a visit from Chancellor of the Exchequer, ]George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...
, shortly after work started, and from Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin
Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constit ...
in August 2015 during the reboring work. Breakthrough was achieved in late, rather than early October, due to loose sand delaying the work in August; the first trains running through the new twin track bore on Monday 14 December 2015. Electrification of the line was due for completion by December 2016, then delayed until December 2017 and then further delayed until May 2018. In January 2018 yet another delay was announced. This was attributed to difficult ground conditions including hard rock and running sand resulting from old mine workings.[ Test trains ( Virgin Pendolino) finally ran between Preston and Manchester in December 2018.][ The first scheduled passenger-carrying electric services began on 11 February 2019, running to Blackpool North, Buckshaw Parkway, Manchester Victoria and Manchester Airport using Class 319 EMUs.]
References
See also
*Manchester and Bolton Railway
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 183 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester To Preston Line
Rail transport in Lancashire
Railway lines in North West England