Burscough Junction railway station

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Burscough Junction National Rail
265px
Location
Place Burscough
Local authority West Lancashire
Grid reference SD444115
Operations
Station code BCJ
Managed by Northern Rail
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  41,198
2005/06 Increase 43,276
2006/07 Increase 44,642
2007/08 Decrease 42,518
2008/09 Decrease 40,908
2009/10 Decrease 37,754
2010/11 Decrease 36,570
2011/12 Increase 37,378
2012/13 Decrease 36,464
2013/14 Increase 37,814
2014/15 Increase 39,226
National Rail – UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Burscough Junction from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
Portal icon UK Railways portal

Burscough Junction pronounced (Burs/co Junction) is one of two railway stations serving the small West Lancashire town of Burscough in the north-west of England. The station was the scene of the Burscough Junction Station Crash in 1880.[1]

Service

The line sees a Monday-Saturday service of approximately every 90 minutes and has no Sunday service.

History

The station opened in 1849, and enjoyed a regular service to numerous destinations, including Preston, Blackburn, Southport and Liverpool. From the autumn of 1968, stopping express services to Scotland and the Lake District were withdrawn. In October of the following year, the remaining Blackpool to Liverpool stopping service was cut back to Ormskirk, leaving only local services and a few non-stop expresses and the line was severed entirely at Ormskirk from 4 May 1970. Singling followed at the end of June 1970. Unlike the other stations at Croston and Rufford, Burscough Junction retained its station buildings for a few years. These were demolished at the end of 1973, and replaced with the current, extremely basic, arrangement.

Interchange

The other station in Burscough is Burscough Bridge, and is only ten minutes away by foot. The name "Junction" is an anachronism: the station no longer serves such a purpose.

File:Burscough Junction railway station 1952507 ea6910cb.jpg
The station in 1964

Burscough Curves

During the rail restructuring of the 1960s and 1970s, the "Burscough Curves", which formed a link between the Ormskirk-Preston and Southport-Wigan lines were removed, although the formation survives. The North Curve was taken out of use and severed in July 1969, being lifted in 1973: it was last used for a Saturdays only empty train from Blackpool to Southport.[2] The South Curve was singled in 1970, but remained in use to serve the extensive sidings at the MOD depot located just to the north of Burscough Junction station. It saw its last train in 1982.

The passenger service from Ormskirk to Burscough Junction and on to Southport, which used the southern curve, was withdrawn in 1962 as can be seen from the British Rail London Midland Region Timetable of that year.

Pressure from local transport groups, West Lancashire Borough Council and Southport MP John Pugh has not so far persuaded Network Rail to reinstate the curves. Various schemes have been proposed, including the full electrification of the line from Southport via Burscough to Ormskirk using the same third rail system as Merseyrail. This proposal would allow users of the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail's Northern Line to reach Southport without having to travel via Sandhills.

A new study being conducted by Merseytravel could see demand for a potential reinstatement and electrification of the curves in the near future.[3] In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies, in its Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network report, called for funding for the reopening of this line as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the Beeching Axe, including seven new parkway stations.[4][5] The uses of the curves in a new service pattern has been identified by Network Rail, if electrified along with the through lines.[6]

Through-trains

There is now no physical connection between the electric Merseyrail line at Ormskirk, and the Ormskirk-Preston line; passengers travelling from Liverpool must change to a diesel train at Ormskirk to continue to Preston.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rosbottom, Ernest (1987) Burscough - The story of an agricultural village. pp.179, 182. Carnegie Press
  2. ↑ British Railways London Midland Region Working Timetable May 1969-May 1970.
  3. ↑ The Champion, 27 February 2008
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

  • "New study into Curves rail link", Harry James, The Champion, 27 February 2008, p. 9

External links

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Rufford   Northern Rail
Ormskirk Branch Line
Mondays-Saturdays only		   Ormskirk
Disused railways
Burscough Bridge   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Burscough Curves South		   Terminus

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