Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of

Poulton-le-Fylde Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...

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. It is managed by

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) ...

, but also served by

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

and is northwest of Preston.

History

The original station was about north-east of the current location, at "The Breck". The railway to the fishing town of

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

passed along a straight line east of the town. From 1846, there was a junction to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

just north of the station, with tight connecting curves facing either way. In 1893 a fatal accident occurred when a train took the curve too fast. Subsequently, in 1896, the tracks were realigned to follow a much gentler westward curve to Blackpool, with the new station halfway along the curve. The Fleetwood branch then curved to the east to rejoin the original alignment. The old station continued to be used as a

goods station A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

until 1968. Passenger services to Fleetwood were withdrawn by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

on 1 June 1970 during railway restructuring, although a freight service continued to the ICI plant at until 1999. The line is still extant (albeit overgrown and disused), but the junction with the Blackpool line west of the station was removed in April 2017 in preparation for electrification of the route. Since June 2006, there have been plans to restore (and preserve) the passenger rail link towards

via Thornton & Cleveleys, as a heritage railway; a £30,000 feasibility study is needed to be undertaken to explore the re-instatement of the link and the addition of a third platform at Poulton-le-Fylde.

Facilities

The station has a staffed ticket office at street level, staffed throughout the week (Monday to Saturday 06:10-19:30 and Sunday 06:40-18:10). There is also a self-service ticket machine provided for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. There is a waiting room at platform level, along with toilets, bench seating and timetable posters. Train running information is offered via automatic announcements and digital display screens. Step-free access is available via lifts from the entrance to the platform when the ticket office is staffed.

Services

As of December 2022 the station is served by four

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 ...

trains per hour to and from Blackpool North westbound, and trains to (two per hour), , and via the

Calder Valley line The Calder Valley line (also previously known as the Caldervale line) is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes ...

in the eastbound direction. On Sundays the service is reduced to three trains per hour in each direction, with only one train per hour to . Additionally, on weekdays, one

train per day to calls at the station in the southbound direction only, departing at 0536. The station is also served by a single

DalesRail DalesRail is a railway passenger service operated for tourism in the summer months across Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire, England. The service routinely uses the current freight-only line between Clitheroe and Hellifield, offering the ...

service to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

via

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

during the summer months and to (for onward travel to Settle and Carlisle) for the remainder of the year.

Modernisation

The modernisation and electrification of the Preston to Blackpool North line, and hence Poulton-le-Fylde station was announced in December 2009. The modernisation included completely new signalling of the entire line along with rationalisation of the lines and removal of the connection into the Fleetwood branch. The removal of the signal box along with four others along the line was included as part of the works. This resulted in a total blockade of the line from 11 November 2017 until 25 March 2018 but subsequently extended to 16 April 2018 due to bad weather.

Visual reporting point

The station is a visual reporting point (VRP) for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft in the local Blackpool airspace.Visiting by air
–

Blackpool Airport Blackpool Airport is an airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport and Blackpool International Airport. Ownership of the air ...

Notes

References

* Mitchell, L. & Hartley, S. (2005) , Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, accessed 30 October 2007 * Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) ''Lost Railways of Lancashire''
Countryside Books, Newbury
* Welch, M.S. (2004) ''Lancashire Steam Finale'', Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham,

External links

accessed 17 October 2007
Poulton & Wyre Railway Society
working towards restoring the passenger rail link to Fleetwood. {{Borough of Wyre culture Railway stations in the Borough of Wyre DfT Category E stations Poulton-le-Fylde Former Preston and Wyre Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast Northern franchise railway stations