Todmorden railway station serves the town of
Todmorden
Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...
in West Yorkshire, England, originally on the
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
/
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 ...
border. It was built by the
Manchester and Leeds Railway
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds. The line followed the ...
and is on 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 ...
west of
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 ...
and north-east 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 ...
.
It was opened in March 1841 when the final portion of M&L main line between Manchester and
Normanton through
Summit Tunnel
Summit Tunnel in England is one of the world's oldest railway tunnels. It was constructed between 1838 and 1841 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company to provide a direct line between Leeds and Manchester. When built, Summit Tunnel was the ...
was completed. It became a junction in 1849 with the opening of a branch line westwards through the
Cliviger
Cliviger is a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated to the southeast of Burnley, and northwest of Todmorden. According to the 2011 census, the parish has a population of 2,238.
Although the whole parish ...
Gorge to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
. This was later extended to join the
East Lancashire Railway
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 railway station, Bury Bolton Street, ...
near
Rose Grove
Rose Grove railway station is a railway station serving the Rose Grove area and town of Padiham in Lancashire, England. It is served by both the Caldervale Line and the East Lancashire Line. It was once the terminus of the Great Harwood Loop b ...
, giving a direct route to
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 ...
,
Preston and
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 ...
.
For many years the station was served by express trains between
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and local trains toward Preston, Bradford and Leeds, but since the
Beeching cuts in the 1960s the basic service has been a local one between Leeds and Manchester Victoria. In May 2015, a service from Manchester to Blackburn via Burnley began using the station.
Todmorden Curve
Todmorden station is located by a triangular junction between the lines to Manchester, Burnley and Halifax, with the station itself located on the line towards Manchester. From 1972 until 2015, there was no link between the Manchester and Burnley lines. Railway passengers wishing to travel between Manchester and Burnley had to change at
Hebden Bridge
Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest ...
or
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 ...
.
The station was formerly served by local trains to/from
Rose Grove
Rose Grove railway station is a railway station serving the Rose Grove area and town of Padiham in Lancashire, England. It is served by both the Caldervale Line and the East Lancashire Line. It was once the terminus of the Great Harwood Loop b ...
and , which were withdrawn in 1965 (the bay platform they once used can still be seen). The short curve that allowed trains to travel between the Manchester and Burnley was removed in 1972 when the line was re-signalled.
Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.
A project to reinstate the Manchester-Burnley curve was first proposed in 2009, although it was not until the end of 2011 that the finance was finally secured as part of the Regional Growth Fund initiative announced by Deputy Prime Minister
Nick Clegg
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...
. As first built, the curve ran from a junction approximately north-east of the viaduct and connected on to the Copy Pit line at Stanfield Hall Junction, near the footbridge on Stansfield Road (the remains of the curve can still be seen from this bridge).
In 2012 Network Rail began clearing the trackbed of vegetation and investigating the alignment. This assessment concluded that it could be feasible to reinstate the curve, using a slightly less sharp alignment than the original curve. Construction began in summer 2013, with the curve originally planned to be in use from the May 2014 timetable change, delayed from the originally mooted date of the end of 2013, allowing through trains to run from Burnley to Manchester Victoria in less than one hour. Services were delayed due to a lack of available rolling stock and signalling work running behind schedule, and instead began at the May 2015 timetable change.
In addition to the work to lay in new track on the curve itself and a completely new junction at the Todmorden end, significant alterations to the signalling system have been required to allow trains to use the new curve (these were only fully completed in February 2015, which is why the curve could only be used by Burnley-bound trains when the curve was first brought into service). The area is controlled from Preston Power Signal Box. The first train to use the newly commissioned connection was an enthusiasts' charter operated by Pathfinder Tours on 31 May 2014. A regular service began using the curve in May 2015.
Services
![Todmorden Railway Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Todmorden_Railway_Station.jpg)
Until 12 December 2008, Monday to Saturday daytime there was a half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via
Halifax eastbound.
Service changes from December 2008
Northern Rail made changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour now run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - the stopping service that ran prior to the timetable change, calling at all stations via Halifax; via Dewsbury and Brighouse, stopping at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton; and a limited stop service between Bradford and Manchester, calling at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale only.
There is an hourly service to Leeds (via Halifax) in the evenings and two trains per hour to Manchester in the evenings and on Sundays.
From the May 2014 timetable change the station gained an additional service each hour to and from the Manchester direction, which was extended to and from Burnley and Blackburn in May 2015. This working formerly terminated at Rochdale; it ran through from eastbound and returned to Wigan Wallgate.
Services from May 2015
In May 2015, a direct service from Manchester to Burnley & Blackburn began calling at the station.
May 2019 timetable
The summer 2019 timetable has four services per hour calling here on weekdays and Saturdays - two between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford (one of which now runs to Chester via ), one from Leeds to Manchester and via Brighouse and one from Blackburn to Manchester and Southport via Burnley. On Sundays, there is one Leeds - Bradford - Manchester train and one between Blackburn and Southport via Manchester each hour in both directions.
December 2019 timetable
The basic service frequency remains the same in the 2019 winter timetable. However changes have been made.
Southport services now terminate at .
The hourly Sunday service between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Halifax no longer calls at Mytholmroyd.
Future services
Under plans submitted by the new
Northern franchisee, further service improvements on the Caldervale line were to be introduced in December 2017 (since postponed until May 2019 due to a rolling stock shortage). These include an extra train per hour from Todmorden to both Manchester & Bradford/Leeds during the day, extra evening services on all routes and new through services to , 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 ...
(marketed under the "Northern Connect" brand). The Chester service was introduced at the May 2019 timetable change, but the other improvements have been indefinitely postponed because of capacity constraints at the various junctions in the Castlefield/Ordsall Lane area of Manchester.
Facilities
There is a ticket office on platform 1 (staffed seven days per week, but closed in the late evening) and waiting rooms on both platforms. Information screens were installed in 2012 as part of a programme to provide screens at 18 stations on the Caldervale line and elsewhere in West Yorkshire. Previously, passengers had to rely on automated public-address system announcements (these are still provided). Step-free access is only available from platform one, as the subway to platform two has steps.
Todmorden station facilities
''National Rail Enquiries''; Retrieved 30 November 2016
''Platform One Gallery'' is located at the station, an art gallery run by Todmorden Art Group, which is a non profit making organisation. It runs exhibitions on a 4-weekly cycle, and is open to the public Thursday-Sunday 11 am-4 pm. It has 11 studios and 2 painting groups.
The station building features a plaque commemorating John Ramsbottom (engineer)
John Ramsbottom (11 September 1814 – 20 May 1897) was an English mechanical engineer. Born in Todmorden, then on the county border of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Ramsbottom was the son of a steam cotton mill owner. He learned about steam eng ...
who was born in the town and spent most of his career working for the local railways (LNWR and LYR).
References
Notes
Sources
*Bairstow, M. (1983), ''The Manchester & Leeds Railway (The Calder Valley Line)'', Wyvern Publishing, Skipton,
External links
{{West Yorkshire railway stations
Railway stations in Calderdale
DfT Category D stations
Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1841
Northern franchise railway stations
Todmorden