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Blackpool North railway station

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Blackpool North station is the main railway station serving the seaside resort of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the main Blackpool branch line and is 17+1⁄2 miles (28 km) northwest of Preston. It also has an adjacent tram stop on the Blackpool Tramway.

Blackpool North
National Rail Blackpool tramway
Blackpool North railway station entrance
General information
LocationBlackpool
England
Coordinates53°49′18″N 3°02′57″W / 53.8218°N 3.0493°W / 53.8218; -3.0493
Grid referenceSD310366
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms6
Other information
Station codeBPN
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Original companyPreston and Wyre Joint Railway
Pre-groupingLYR and LNWR joint
Post-groupingLondon Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
29 April 1846Opened as Blackpool[1]
1872Renamed Blackpool Talbot Road[1]
1898Rebuilt[2]
17 March 1932Renamed Blackpool North[1]
1974Rebuilt on site of former excursion platforms
16 June 2024Tram stop opens
Passengers
2019/20Increase 1.792 million
2020/21Decrease 0.535 million
2021/22Increase 1.782 million
2022/23Increase 1.909 million
2023/24Increase 1.973 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station was opened in its present form in 1974, and succeeded a previous station a few hundred yards (metres) away on Talbot Road which had first opened in 1846 and had been rebuilt in 1898. The present station is based on the 1938 concrete canopy which covered the entrance to the former excursion platforms of the old station. Blackpool's other station, Blackpool South, is situated in the south of the town, with services towards Preston and Colne, and does not connect to Blackpool North.

Blackpool North has regular services to Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Wigan, Preston, Blackburn, Leeds and York. There are three intercity trains a day to London Euston via Birmingham New Street.

History

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The first station opened on 29 April 1846 as Blackpool, renamed Blackpool Talbot Road in 1872, and was first rebuilt in 1898. The rebuilt station consisted of two parallel train sheds and a terminal building, in Dickson Road between Talbot Road and Queen Street. Platforms 1 to 6 were located in the sheds, with a larger island between platforms 1 and 2 to accommodate taxis. In addition, there was effectively, in all but name, a separate station at the east end of Queen Street, with open "excursion" platforms 7 to 16, used only in summer.[3]

The station was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report (1963), but following lobbying by Blackpool Corporation it was Blackpool Central—Blackpool's other centrally-located station, but whose site was better-suited for re-development—which closed in 1964.[4]

The main station buildings, train shed and platforms were decommissioned and demolished in 1974, and the 1938 excursion platform canopy building was refurbished to become the new main station.

Electrification

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In November 2010, it was announced that the lines between Preston and Blackpool would be electrified, along with the line between Manchester and Preston.[5] This resulted in the semaphore signalling at the station being replaced by modern colour lights controlled from the WCML North Rail Operating Centre in Manchester and the station track and platform layout being altered, with the eight curved platforms reduced to six and on a straighter alignment than previously. The project was due for completion by May 2016,[6] with the line onwards to Manchester following by the end of the year. This was subsequently pushed back twice - first to March 2017 and then again to early 2018 (after contractors Balfour Beatty pulled out), so that the track remodelling and re-signalling work could be carried out at the same time as the wiring, reducing disruption to passengers (as only one period of closure would be required).[7][8]

The remodelling required the station to be completely closed for a significant period of time (up to 18 weeks according to Network Rail),[9] with additional weekend and evening blocks before and after. Replacement buses to Preston operated during the closure. The station was closed until 16 April 2018 for the work to take place.[10] A major rebuild and upgrade of the nearby carriage servicing depot was carried out at the same time.

Facilities

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The station is staffed and open for 24 hours a day, and is equipped with payphones, vending machines, toilets and indoor seating,[11] as well as a customer service office and a booking office.[12] Step-free access to the station and platform is available for passengers with wheelchairs or prams, and portable ramps are also available for platform-to-train access.[11] The station has its own covered concourse and, adjoining the concourse, it has a Pumpkin cafe, as well as a Point shop to Go convenience store.[12] The station also has a 30-space car park,[11] and adjoining bus connections, which can also accommodate Plusbus ticket holders.[13]

As Blackpool is a popular tourist resort, with its Pleasure Beach and beaches, there are many measures put in to prevent fare evasion, including automated barrier checks,[14] as well as the conductors on the trains.

The station is approximately half-a-mile (0.8 km) along Talbot Road from the Blackpool Tramway, which is to be extended to the station in 2018/19 as part of a new transport interchange.[15][needs update]

 
A panorama of the interior of Blackpool North station

Services

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The platforms of Blackpool North in 2018. Blackpool Tower is in the background.

The station is served by Northern Trains and Avanti West Coast. The typical weekday service pattern is:[16][17]

Northern Trains

Avanti West Coast

In May 2019, Northern services to York on weekdays resumed, a new summer Sunday service to Carlisle, known as DalesRail, returned and Manchester Piccadilly terminators were extended to Hazel Grove.[18][19][20] In the December 2022 timetable change, services to Hazel Grove were rerouted to Manchester Airport, whilst the "Dalesrail" service on Sundays was withdrawn (Northern hope to reinstate it in the future).

Former services

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Blackpool North was on the InterCity network until 2003 when Virgin Trains West Coast and Virgin CrossCountry withdrew High Speed Train and Voyager services to London Euston and Birmingham.[21] Former local franchise holder First North Western ran services from Blackpool to London Euston, but these were soon discontinued. However, in the December 2014 timetable change, Virgin reintroduced direct services to/from London Euston albeit only on weekdays and only one each way a day. As of December 2023, there are three trains a day to/from London Euston.

Virgin CrossCountry used to run up to eight services per day to Blackpool North from Portsmouth Harbour, Brighton and London Paddington.[22][21] The services were introduced by Virgin to increase the frequency of the CrossCountry trains and were introduced in 2000. They were withdrawn in summer 2003 by the Strategic Rail Authority to improve the general punctuality of train services.[23] First North Western used to operate a Monday-Saturday boat train to/from Holyhead (which attached to a portion from Stockport) until 2003 and briefly operated a service between Blackpool and London Euston.[24][25]

In December 2008, the service to Manchester Victoria replaced the route to Buxton, though limited services still ran there.

Until 1 April 2016, the service to Manchester Airport was run by First TransPennine Express. The service was part of the TransPennine North West division and was an express service, stopping at far less stations outside of limited services. There was a limited service to Barrow-in-Furness and briefly Glasgow Central in 2010. In May 2015, the Class 185 Units were replaced by loaned Class 156 Units and in April 2016, the route was transferred to Northern. Until late 2018, Class 185 Units were still occasionally used. Since 2016, more stations were added to the service over time until December 2022.

Northern services to Leeds and York on weekdays were temporarily withdrawn prior to the start of electrification work in November 2017, but resumed in May 2019. Weekday Manchester Victoria services also ended prior to the start of electrification work in 2017 and although the route is now completely wired, there are no direct services at all (the Sunday service ended at the December 2022 timetable change) - travellers have to change trains at one of Preston, Bolton or Salford Crescent.

Tram interchange

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In 2017, approval was given for the construction of a new 550-metre (1,800 ft), £21 million branch of the Blackpool Tramway from North Pier to Blackpool North station, with a new tram terminal opposite the station. This recreates the route of an earlier tramway connection to the station along Talbot Road which operated between 1902 and 1936. It means that the tramway will almost connect Blackpool's two main railway stations, as Blackpool South is a few minutes walk away from Waterloo Road tram stop.[26][27]

Work on the branch began in 2018, and it was originally meant to be open in April 2019, however completion of the branch required the demolition of a Wilko store which sat at the site of the terminus. Delays in relocating the store however, mean that its demolition was not completed until September 2020. A second delay came from the COVID-19 pandemic. The first test tram ran on the branch in March 2022.[28] After another long delay partially due to ongoing hotel works, a final round of testing commenced on 23 April 2024.[29] The first passenger service ran on 12 June 2024 as a special service with full service beginning 4 days later.[30][31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  2. ^ Hartley, S. and Mitchell, L. (2005) "Lancashire Historic Town Survey—Blackpool" (PDF).[permanent dead link‍] (25.5 MiB), Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, accessed 30 October 2007, p.23
  3. ^ Taylor, Stuart (2005). Kirkham to Blackpool (North) and Fleetwood for the Isle of Man. Bredbury: Foxline. pp. 51–52, 56, 59, 75–76. ISBN 1-870119-74-6.
  4. ^ "Disused Stations: Blackpool Central Station". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Railways to get £8bn investment". BBC News. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  6. ^ Network Rail - Electrification in the North West Network Rail website; Retrieved 2013-08-28
  7. ^ "Electrification to be shunted back into 2017'Blackpool Gazette news article 21-06-2014; Retrieved 0 September 2014
  8. ^ "Railway all set to get back on track by 2018" Archived 12 December 2018 at the Wayback MachineLancashire Evening Post 26 January 2016; Retrieved 6 June 2016
  9. ^ "Rail line to close for up to 18 weeks" Stocks, Rob Blackpool Gazette 6 July 2016; Retrieved 16 August 2016
  10. ^ "North West Electrification - Preston to Blackpool North" Archived 15 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine Network Rail news article; Retrieved 15 September 2017
  11. ^ a b c "Blackpool North (BPN)". National Rail. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Blackpool North Station Plan". National Rail. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Blackpool North". Plusbus. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Blackpool station set for £600,000 first". Blackpool Gazette. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  15. ^ "Tramway terminal centre of Talbot Gateway phase two". www.blackpool.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  16. ^ GB National Rail Timetable May 2023 Edition Table 102
  17. ^ "Scheduled timetable book for 21 May 2023 to 9 December 2023" (PDF). Avanti West Coast.
  18. ^ "DalesRail timetable". Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Northern route 9 timetable May 2019" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  20. ^ Northern route 27 timetable May 2019[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ a b "Service will not be back on track". Blackpool Gazette. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  22. ^ 2002 Virgin Trains route map
  23. ^ "Select Committee on Transport Fourth Report". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  24. ^ Blackpool, Blackpool South Location Place South Shore Local authority (7 March 2009). "Train Stations".
  25. ^ "New Blackpool-London services to start this May" Rail issue 322 14 January 1998 page 10
  26. ^ "Trams for Blackpool North". RailEngineer. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  27. ^ "Blackpool Tramway extension: What's in store". Rail Technology Magazine. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  28. ^ "First trams tested on Blackpool's new £22m Talbot Gateway extension". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  29. ^ https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/blackpool-trams-news.243744/page-3#post-6732907 (post 89-90)
  30. ^ Launch date announced for Blackpool’s new Talbot Road tramway extension - and free tickets are up for grabs
  31. ^ "Blackpool's new £23m tramway launched as trams return to station after 60 years - LancsLive". 13 June 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blackpool North railway station.
Preceding station     National Rail   Following station
TerminusNorthern Trains
Blackpool North to Manchester Airport
Northern Trains
Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street
Northern Trains
Blackpool North to York
Avanti West Coast
West Coast Main Line Blackpool branch
Limited service
  Blackpool Tramway  
Talbot Square   Blackpool Tramway   North Pier
Disused railways
Terminus   Preston and Wyre Joint Railway
Blackpool Branch Line 		  Bispham
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