Swinton railway station serves the towns of Swinton and

Pendlebury Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester city centre, north-west of Salford and south-east of Bolton. Historically in Lancash ...

in the

City of Salford The City of Salford () is a metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester, England. The borough is named after its main settlement, Salford. The borough covers the towns of Eccles, Swinton, Walkden and Pendlebury, as well as the villages ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is actually located in Pendlebury and not Swinton itself; the boundary between the two districts is about 40 yards further down Station Road (B5231), beyond the junction with Boundary Road and nearer the town centre. It opened, along with the line to passenger trains, in June 1887. Swinton 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 ...

. The station is located north-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 ...

, There are 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 destinations such as Wigan North Western,

Wigan Wallgate Wigan Wallgate railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town centre of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. The station serves two routes, the Manchester-Southport Line and the Manchester- Kirkby Line. It is 16 miles north-w ...

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 ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

; these services stop at local towns such 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 ...

, Atherton and Hindley. Onward trains take passengers on to

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 ...

, although occasional services are direct. Although the station is in the City of Salford, rather than

Manchester 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 t ...

, the name ''Swinton (Manchester)'' is used by

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

to refer to the station; this is to avoid confusion with Swinton railway station in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

Facilities

Swinton station has relatively basic facilities. For example, the ticket office is only open until 12:50 on weekdays and 13:50 on Saturdays; it is closed on Sundays. When closed, one must purchase tickets on board the train or on-line. A screen in the booking hall lists live departure times of the trains showing any delays or cancellations; screens are also now installed in the centre of the island platform, showing live train departure information to commuters waiting on the platforms. An intercom unit is also installed on the platform which passengers can use in the event of an emergency or if they need help or information when the station is unstaffed. As the ticket office is at street level on the bridge above, and is connected to the platforms via a staircase, no step-free access is available for wheelchair or mobility-impaired users.

Service

Monday to Saturday daytimes, two trains per hour go eastbound towards Manchester Victoria and two per hour towards Wigan, both to with one per hour extending to westbound.Northern Trains timetable 14 - Manchester to Southport and Kirkby, 16 May - 11 December 2021

Retrieved 20 November 2021 Most Manchester trains continue through to and or via the

Caldervale 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 rou ...

. Passengers for stations to Southport need to change at Wigan, as only a limited number run through on weekdays since the May 2019 timetable change. The evening service is similar, though there are no trains to Kirkby after 19:00 and services mostly terminate at Wigan Wallgate with one late service terminating at . On Sundays there is one per hour each way to Manchester Victoria and Blackburn and to . A normal service operates on most bank holidays.

Reinstatement of Sunday service

During much of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, there were no Sunday services serving Swinton. After several years of successful lobbying from passenger user groups and station friends' groups,

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

introduced a 12-month trial Sunday service beginning on 23 May 2010 with the funding support from

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester. SELNEC PTE Until 1969, the conurbati ...

. The service still continues to operate in the spring 2021 timetable and is included in the new Northern franchise agreement that came into effect in April 2016.

References

External links

Friends of Walkden Station
- One of the main lobbying groups {{coord, 53.5148, -2.3367, region:GB_type:railwaystation, display=title Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Railway stations in Salford DfT Category E stations Northern franchise railway stations Swinton, Greater Manchester Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887