Widnes Central railway station served the town of

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, England from 1879 to 1964.

History

The main line of the

Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...

(CLC), between and Liverpool Brunswick, opened in 1873. This passed to the north of the growing town of

, so in 1873 the Widnes Railway was projected to link that town to the CLC, at a triangular junction to the west of . Hough Green, Widnes & Runcorn Barnstaple Mansfield RJD 18

Hough Green, Widnes & Runcorn Barnstaple Mansfield RJD 18

In 1874 the uncompleted line was sold to 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 ...

(MS&LR); and in 1875 it became the joint property of the MS&LR and the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

- two of the partners in the CLC. The third partner, the Great Northern Railway declined to take part in the project, and so it was not part of the CLC but separately administered by the

Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee The Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1869 as a joint venture between the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Origins For many years the Midland had be ...

. This line opened for goods traffic in 1877. The Widnes line was soon extended westwards to rejoin the CLC near , forming what became known as the Widnes Loop. A passenger station on the extension, known as ''Widnes Central'', was opened on 1 August 1879. The core service at Widnes Central was provided by the trains of the CLC running between and

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 ...

. In 1922 16 "Down" (towards Liverpool) trains called on Mondays to Saturdays. Nine ran from Warrington Central, two from Manchester Central, one from Tanhouse Lane and two started at Widnes Central itself, all headed for Liverpool Central. One ran from Tanhouse Lane to Garston but by far the most exotic was the 12:15 from to Liverpool Central which called at Widnes at 19:04. "Up" services were similar. Two trains each way called on Sundays. The station was closed by

British Railways 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 5 October 1964. as a result of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

. Services had by then declined significantly from their peak levels in pre-grouping days (15 per day each way in 1922) to just five westbound and six eastbound departures on weekdays & Saturdays only."Disused Stations - Widnes Central"
''Disused Stations''; Retrieved 2014-03-20 The entire loop line was closed as a through route soon afterwards, though the freight yard at Tanhouse Lane remained in use for cement traffic until 2000 - access was latterly provided by a connection from the ex-LNWR Widnes Deviation Line. The station and approach lines were demolished after closure and no trace remains.

References

Sources

External links

Widnes Central Station on navigable 1948 O.S. mapDisused Stations - Widnes CentralWidnes Central via ''8D Association''
{{Closed stations Cheshire Disused railway stations in the Borough of Halton Former Great Central and Midland Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1879 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964 Buildings and structures in Widnes Beeching closures in England

History

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links