Castleton railway station

Castleton railway station serves Castleton in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It is 8¾ miles (14 km) north of Manchester Victoria on the Caldervale Line operated and managed by Northern.

Castleton
National Rail
General information
LocationCastleton, Rochdale
England
Grid referenceSD883106
Managed byNorthern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeCAS
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Opened1875
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.179 million
2019/20Decrease 0.172 million
2020/21Decrease 35,900
2021/22Increase 78,216
2022/23Increase 95,966
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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The original station opened in 1839, at Blue Pits on the western side of the Rochdale-Manchester Road bridge. It was originally called Blue Pits for Heywood. The current station opened on 1 November 1875. The Liverpool and Bury Railway from Bolton (extended through from Bolton and beyond in 1848 to join the earlier M&L Heywood branch previously opened in 1841, which was worked by horses) used to join the main line at a triangular junction a short distance south of the station. This was at one time a busy passenger and freight route often used by trains avoiding the busy Manchester area, but was closed to passengers on 5 October 1970. [1]
The station was also part of the Oldham Loop Line on which there were through services to Oldham via Rochdale. This route was closed in 2009 and has now been converted for light rail use by Manchester Metrolink.

Services

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On Monday to Saturday daytimes, there is a half-hourly service in each direction. From 4 June 2018, apart from a handful of peak hour/later evening and Sunday services, the basic pattern is for trains to start at Rochdale then stop at all stations including Castleton to Manchester Victoria, and continue via Salford Central, Salford Crescent, Bolton and Darwen to Blackburn, with alternate trains continuing through to Clitheroe.

On Sundays, the service pattern is hourly between Manchester Victoria - Castleton - Rochdale - Todmorden - Burnley - Accrington and Blackburn. Southbound trains continue beyond Victoria to Wigan Wallgate and Southport via Atherton.[2]

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Mills Hill   Northern
Caldervale Line
  Rochdale
Disused railways
Heywood
Line closed, station open
  Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway   Rochdale
Line and station open
   Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus   East Lancashire Railway   Heywood
Line closed, station open

Facilities

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The station is not staffed, but a ticket machine is available. Shelters and passenger information screens are located on each platform and both have step-free access from the street (there are also staircases from Manchester Road bridge to both platforms).[3]

East Lancashire Railway future

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The western portion of this line was retained for freight traffic after passenger trains ceased (serving the coal depot at Rawtenstall until 1980, and subsequently to the Powell Duffryn wagon works) and it now forms the link with the East Lancashire Railway heritage route at Heywood.[4] The heritage line plans to extend its services along and towards a possible new bay platform adjacent to the main station in the future,[5] subject to permission being granted by Network Rail.

The bay platform (named Castleton Village) will be adjacent to the main station at Castleton, from where passengers could alight and change station sides directly to Northern Rail services on the national network. Rochdale Council commissioned a study by transport consultants Mouchel in conjunction with the ELR regarding the proposals in 2010; their report which covers the tourism and regeneration aspects of any such future development can be downloaded from the ELR website.

Notes

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  1. ^ Marshall, p.45
  2. ^ Table 37 & 103 National Rail timetable, May 2023
  3. ^ Castleton (Manchester) station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 30 November 2016
  4. ^ Your Heywood - Heywood Railway Station Archived 27 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine www.heywood-lancs.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-08-22
  5. ^ Minister steams in for talks on new lineBury Times news article; Retrieved 2013-08-22

References

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  • The Manchester and Leeds Railway by Martin Bairstow (1983), (ISBN 0-907941-06-0)
  • Forgotten Railways: North-West England by John Marshall (1981), David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. (ISBN 0-7153-8003-6)
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Railways in Rochdale
Past, present and future
 
 
Broadley
 
 
Littleborough
Shawclough
and Healey
 
 
Smithy Bridge
Wardleworth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rochdale
 
 
 
Newbold
Rochdale
Town Centre
 
 
 
Kingsway
Business Park
 
 
Milnrow
 
 
 
Newhey
Broadfield
 
 
 
Heywood
 
 
Castleton
 
 
 
Mills Hill
Middleton
 
 
 

53°35′31″N 2°10′42″W / 53.5919°N 2.1783°W / 53.5919; -2.1783