Burscough Junction railway station

Burscough Junction
Location
Place	Burscough
Local authority	West Lancashire
Grid reference	SD444115
Operations
Station code	BCJ
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	1
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	36,570
2011/12	37,378
2012/13	36,464
2013/14	37,814
2014/15	39,226
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Burscough Junction from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Burscough Junction pronounced (Burs/co Junction) is one of two railway stations serving the small West Lancashire town of Burscough in the north-west of England. It is sited on the Ormskirk Branch Line, 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) north of Ormskirk and is served by Northern. The station was the scene of the Burscough Junction Station Crash in 1880.^[1]

Service

The line sees a Monday-Saturday service of approximately every 90 minutes each way (13 departures in total in each direction) and has no Sunday service.^[2]

History

The station opened in April 1849, and enjoyed a regular service to numerous destinations, including Preston, Blackburn, Southport and Liverpool. From the autumn of 1968, stopping express services to Scotland and the Lake District were withdrawn. In October of the following year, through trains to Blackburn also ceased and the remaining Blackpool to Liverpool stopping service was cut back to Ormskirk, leaving only local services and a few non-stop expresses; the line was severed entirely at Ormskirk from 4 May 1970. Singling followed at the end of June 1970. Unlike the other stations at Croston and Rufford, Burscough Junction retained its station buildings for a few years. These were demolished at the end of 1973, and replaced with the current, extremely basic, arrangement.

Interchange

The other station in Burscough is Burscough Bridge, and is only ten minutes away by foot. The name "Junction" is an anachronism: the station no longer serves such a purpose.

The station in 1964

Facilities

Only one platform remains in use, with basic shelters, digital information displays and a long-line P.A system. There are no ticket vending facilities of any kind available, so passengers requiring them must buy in advance or on the train. The platform is fully DDA-compliant, with step free access from the main entrance on Station Lane.^[3]

Burscough Curves

During the rail restructuring of the 1960s and 1970s, the "Burscough Curves", which formed a link between the Ormskirk-Preston and Southport-Wigan lines were removed, although the formation survives. The North Curve was taken out of use and severed in July 1969, being lifted in 1973: it was last used for a Saturdays only empty train from Blackpool to Southport.^[4] The South Curve was singled in 1970, but remained in use to serve the extensive sidings at the MOD depot located just to the north of Burscough Junction station. It saw its last train in 1982.

The passenger service from Ormskirk to Burscough Junction and on to Southport, which used the southern curve, was withdrawn in 1962 as can be seen from the British Rail London Midland Region Timetable of that year.

Pressure from local transport groups, West Lancashire Borough Council and Southport MP John Pugh has not so far persuaded Network Rail to reinstate the curves. Various schemes have been proposed, including the full electrification of the line from Southport via Burscough to Ormskirk using the same third rail system as Merseyrail. This proposal would allow users of the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail's Northern Line to reach Southport without having to travel via Sandhills.

A new study being conducted by Merseytravel could see demand for a potential reinstatement and electrification of the curves in the near future.^[5] In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies, in its Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network report, called for funding for the reopening of this line as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the Beeching Axe, including seven new parkway stations.^[6][7] The uses of the curves in a new service pattern has been identified by Network Rail, if electrified along with the through lines.^[8] Merseytravel has since included reopening of the two connections (and electrification to both Southport & Preston) in its Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy document, published in 2014.^[9] Another potential development could see the station relocated further north, to create a new bi-level interchange with the Wigan-Southport route.

Through-trains

There is now no physical connection between the electric Merseyrail line at Ormskirk, and the Ormskirk-Preston line; passengers travelling from Liverpool must change to a diesel train at Ormskirk to continue to Preston.

Notes

1. Rosbottom, Ernest (1987) Burscough - The story of an agricultural village. pp.179, 182. Carnegie Press
2. Table 99 National Rail timetable, May 2016
3. Burscough Junction station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 28 November 2016
4. British Railways London Midland Region Working Timetable May 1969-May 1970.
5. The Champion, 27 February 2008
6. "BBC NEWS - England - Operators call for new rail lines". BBC News. 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
7. "Connecting Communities - expanding access to the rail network" (PDF). London: Association of Train Operating Companies. June 2009. Archived from the original (pdf) on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
8. "Network RUS Electrification" (PDF). October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
9. "Liverpool City Region’s 30-year rail future detailed in new strategy"This Liverpool BID Company; Retrieved 29 March 2016

References

• "New study into Curves rail link", Harry James, The Champion, 27 February 2008, p. 9

External links

• Train times and station information for Burscough Junction railway station from National Rail
• Potential Rail Improvements in North Western England - Evidence presented to the Transport Select Committee, 2002–03

Coordinates: 53°35′51.0″N 2°50′26.3″W / 53.597500°N 2.840639°W