Widnes railway station
Widnes 
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Widnes railway station
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| Location | |
| Place | Farnworth |
| Local authority | Halton |
| Coordinates | 53°22′43″N 2°44′01″W / 53.37867°N 2.73374°WCoordinates: 53°22′43″N 2°44′01″W / 53.37867°N 2.73374°W |
| Grid reference | SJ512871 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | WID |
| Managed by | Northern |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | E |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 0.366 million |
| 2012/13 |
0.374 million |
| 2013/14 |
0.417 million |
| 2014/15 |
0.456 million |
| 2015/16 |
0.470 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| Pre-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| Post-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
| 1 August 1873 | Opened as Farnworth (Widnes) |
| 5 January 1959 | Renamed Widnes North |
| 6 May 1968 | Renamed Widnes |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Widnes from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Widnes railway station (formerly Widnes North railway station) is in the town of Widnes, in the Halton unitary authority, in the county of Cheshire in North West England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The station is operated by Northern.
The station, opened by the CLC on 1 August 1873, was originally known as Farnworth (Widnes),Farnworth being at the time a village north of Widnes, but is now a northern suburb of the town. The station was renamed Widnes North on 5 January 1959, and finally Widnes on 6 May 1968 (Widnes Central and Widnes South, on other lines, having closed to passengers in 1964 and 1962 respectively).
Widnes Railway Station is one of two stations where Paul Simon reputedly composed the song "Homeward Bound", the other being Ditton railway station. It is uncertain exactly where the song was written: in an interview with Paul Zollo for SongTalk Magazine, Art Garfunkel says that Simon wrote the song in a railway station "around Manchester" while in an earlier interview for Playboy Magazine Simon himself mentioned the train station was at Liverpool. It is likely, however, that it was written at one of the two Widnes stations during a long wait for a train, as Simon was travelling back from Liverpool, 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 "[i]f you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London as quickly as possible."
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