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Westhoughton railway station

Westhoughton National Rail
Platform furniture, Westhoughton railway station (geograph 4531848).jpg
Westhoughton railway station in 2015
Location
Place Westhoughton
Local authority Bolton
Grid reference SD654067
Operations
Station code WHG
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12 Increase 210,354
2012/13 Increase 217,910
2013/14 Increase 226,390
2014/15 Increase 230,974
2015/16 Decrease 129,344
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE Transport for Greater Manchester
History
Key dates Opened 1848 (1848)
National RailUK 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 Westhoughton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
170433 at Edinburgh Waverley.JPG

Westhoughton railway station is one of the two stations which serve the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, north-western England. The station is 15 12 miles (24.9 km) north west of Manchester Piccadilly.

It is the only station located on a connecting line between the Manchester-Preston Line at Bolton and the Manchester-Southport Line at Hindley near Wigan. It was opened in 1848, along with the line, by the Liverpool and Bury Railway, when the route between the two via Wigan and Bolton was completed. It subsequently became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's system.

The station is located in Church Street, about ten minutes' walk from the town centre. The town of Westhoughton is also served by Daisy Hill railway station, which is around 15 minutes on foot from the centre of Westhoughton and is situated on the Manchester-Southport Line, via Atherton.

Unlike the town's other station at Daisy Hill, Westhoughton station has been unstaffed since 1974, when all the track-side and road-side buildings were demolished. This is despite the fact that Westhoughton enjoyed similar levels of patronage (see usage figures right). From 2004 to 2012 passenger usage increased by some 231%. The station's passenger usage seems set to grow further, as there has been considerable housing development on brownfield land, which was the site of a mine, within a few hundred yards of the station. Indeed, the town continues to grow, overall, as a commuter suburb.


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Wikipedia

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