Clifton (Manchester) railway station

This article is about the station in Clifton, Greater Manchester. For the stations in other places called Clifton, see Clifton railway station (disambiguation).

Clifton
The ramp leading to the southbound platform
Location
Place	Clifton
Local authority	Salford
Coordinates
Grid reference	SD793028
Operations
Station code	CLI
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	417
2005/06	182
2006/07	277
2007/08	152
2008/09	216
2009/10	278
2010/11	170
2011/12	498
2012/13	334
2013/14	298
2014/15	152
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
History
Original company	East Lancashire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
June 1847	Opened as Clifton Junction
6 May 1974	Renamed Clifton
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Clifton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Clifton railway station is a railway station in Clifton, Greater Manchester, England which was formerly called Clifton Junction railway station. It lies on the Manchester to Preston Line.

History

The railway line between Salford and Bolton, the Manchester and Bolton Railway (M&BR), opened in 1838, but had no stations between Agecroft Bridge and Ringley. In 1844, the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway (MB&RR) was authorised to build a line from a junction with the M&BR at Clifton, to Rawtenstall. It opened to the public on 28 September 1846, by which time the MB&RR had amalgamated with other companies to become the East Lancashire Railway, and the M&BR had itself amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway; the M&LR became the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847.

File:Bromshall, Clifton (Molyneux), Hay, Liskeard, Patricroft & Uttoxeter RJD 148.jpg

A 1905 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (upper right) railways in the vicinity of Clifton

The Bury line ran northward from the junction, crossing the Irwell Valley on Clifton Viaduct (known locally as the "13 arches"), to run on the opposite side of the valley to the Bolton line. A station at the junction, with two platforms for each route (Bolton or Bury), opened in June 1847, and was named Clifton Junction.

The line to Bury closed in 1966, but (as of October 2013) the viaduct remains a Grade II listed local landmark.

On 6 May 1974 the station was renamed Clifton, (even though the area has become known as Clifton Junction), and in the 1990s the service was reduced to one train per day in each direction.

The closest station to Clifton Junction with a regular service is Swinton 1.25 miles (2.01 km) miles away on the line between Manchester and Wigan via Atherton.

Local industry made good use of Clifton Junction railway station long before the advent of mass car ownership when three factories were established close by enabling employees and visitors access by train. The three factories were Magnesium Elektron Ltd, Chloride Batteries Ltd and Pilkington's Tiles Ltd.

Services

The service at Clifton railway station is very limited in the current 2015-16 timetable (and has been since 1992), with just one train calling in each direction between Manchester Victoria and Wigan Wallgate per day - southbound (at 07:06) in the morning peak and northbound (at 18:22) in the evening. In 2012, the station had only a small amount of services day in each direction (local services run by Northern Rail); only 170 passengers were recorded as using the station in 2010–11. The single daily service each way was suspended between May 2015 and the December 2015 timetable change due to the ongoing modernisation work at Farnworth Tunnel, with a replacement bus provided instead. The station reopened on schedule on 14 December 2015.

There is no Sunday service.

External links

• Train times and station information for Clifton (Manchester) railway station from National Rail
• History of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with mention of Molyneux Junction
• Images of Clifton line, including a reference to Molyneux Brow Station

Salford Lines
Legend
Past, present and future  to Wigan Wallgate to Bolton Great Moor Street to Wigan North Western x20px Little Hulton Ellenbrook Walkden Low Level Walkden High Level to Lime Street Moorside |to Bolton Barton Moss | Worsley Swinton | Dixon Fold Patricroft | Monton Green Pendlebury |to Bury Irlams-o'-th'-Height Eccles | Eccles Clifton Junction Ladywell Agecroft Bridge Weaste | Weaste Brindle Heath Jct | Agecroft Jct Langworthy | Seedley Pendleton Bridge Broadway Cross Lane | Pendleton MediaCityUK Harbour City Salford Crescent Anchorage Salford Docks Salford Quays x20px x20px Windsor Link Exchange Quay Ordsall Lane | Oldfield Road to Manchester (Metrolink) Ordsall Chord(under construction) Salford Central to Manchester (Deansgate) to Manchester (Victoria)

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kearsley		Northern Rail Manchester-Wigan Wallgate Limited Services		Salford Crescent
	Disused railways
Dixon Fold Line open, station closed		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway		Agecroft Bridge Line open, station closed
Molyneux Brow Line and station closed