Ditton railway station, originally Ditton Junction, was a railway station which served the Ditton area 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 ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. It was located on Hale Road on the border between Ditton and Halebank.

History

The station opened in 1871 on the London-Liverpool line. It replaced an earlier station named Ditton Mill which was inconveniently located off the then new main line some 230 yards (210 m) to the east. On 17 September 1912, 15 people were killed when the 17:30 train from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

derailed while crossing from the fast to the slow line at speed. The station was rebuilt between 1960-61 at a cost of £48,500 (). Ditton closed to passengers on 27 May 1994 and the station buildings were demolished in 2005.

Paul Simon

Ditton railway station is one of two stations where

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

may have composed the song " Homeward Bound", the other being

Widnes railway station Widnes railway station (formerly Widnes North) is a railway station serving the town of Widnes, Halton (borough), Halton, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II Listed building#England and ...

. It is uncertain exactly where the song was written. In an interview with

Paul Zollo Paul Steven Zollo (born August 9, 1958) is a singer, songwriter, author, journalist and photographer. Paul Zollo is a songwriter, singer, recording artist for Trough Records, author of many books, photographer, and music journalist. He is prese ...

for ''SongTalk'' Magazine,

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 ...

says that Simon wrote the song in a train station "around

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 ...

" while in an earlier interview for

Playboy Magazine ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

Simon himself mentioned the train station was at Liverpool. It is likely, however, that it was written at Widnes station during a long wait for a train, as Simon was still on tour and travelling to a gig in Humberside from

, and was reportedly dropped off at Widnes station by the owner of the club where he had been playing. A plaque commemorating this claim to fame is displayed on the Liverpool-bound platform of Widnes railway station. Simon is quoted as saying "if you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London as quickly as possible."

Closure

The station was the first to be closed by

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

following the

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

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 ...

in 1994. Passenger numbers declined during the 1960s and 1970s with the steady withdrawal of services. The ''Ditton Dodger'' to was the first withdrawal in 1951, followed by services to

Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Oxford Road railway station is a railway station in Manchester, England, at the junction of Whitworth Street West and Oxford Street. It opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. It is the second busiest of the four stations in Manchest ...

in 1962 and to

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

via the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...

and

in 1975. The station was left with an hourly shuttle between Crewe and

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 ...

. By the late 1980s even this service had begun to omit Ditton from its schedule and dwindling passenger numbers eventually led to its closure. As of 2018 the platforms survive and can easily be seen from passing trains, and the site of the station buildings is visible from the road, marked by the more modern brickwork of the bridge parapet.

Future

Halton Borough Council has protected the site of the station as well as the

Halton Curve Halton Curve (now formally known as the Frodsham Single Line) is a short bi-directional railway line which links the Chester–Warrington line to the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line within the borough of Halton, Cheshire. The route, which is ...

from development prejudicial to their reuse as part of the rail network; the council notes that "there is an opportunity for the re-opening of this station, particularly with the possible increase in patronage from major industrial, commercial and housing developments in the area. It may be possible to use the station as a park and ride facility." The alignment of the "Shell Green Route" which linked Ditton with Widnes South and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

is also protected. Liverpool City Region Mayor,

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who is the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region. He previously served as the MP for Liverpool Walton from 2010 to 2017. Rotheram was born in Liverpool an ...

, stated in an interview in July 2017 that re-opening the station was one of the several options that had been outlined in the Liverpool City Region's Long Term Rail Strategy. The success of the plan depended heavily upon the re-opening of the Halton Curve. In February 2019 it was announced that Merseytravel and consultant company Arup had been conducting feasibility studies into the reopening of the station. Initial estimates put the cost of reopening the station at an estimated £10 million.

References

Sources

External links

Ditton station via ''Disused Stations UK''
{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom Disused railway stations in the Borough of Halton Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1871 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1994