Place Appley Bridge Grid reference SD524093 Managed by Northern | Local authority Station code APB Number of platforms 2 | |
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Appley Bridge railway station serves the villages of Appley Bridge and Shevington, both in Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester in England. The station is 7 kilometres (4 mi) north west of Wigan Wallgate on the Manchester-Southport Line. The station is in Lancashire, but it is supported by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and as such within the GMPTE ticketing zone. It is operated by Northern.
Contents
The main stone-built station building survives adjacent to the Wigan-bound platform, but is now used for non-railway purposes (as a public house); there are modest shelters on both platforms for rail travellers.
History
The station was built by the Manchester and Southport Railway and opened on 9 April 1855. From January 1885 it was part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The main stone-built station building (no longer in use) was built during that time, in the standard L&YR style. The L&YR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922, and this in turn was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948. When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail.
A Greater Manchester Council landfill site and transfer terminal was formerly located a short distance west of the station, served by a siding connection from the up (eastbound) line. This received regular trainloads of domestic waste from terminals in and around Manchester from the early 1980s until 1995, when the site reached capacity and was closed. The defunct siding is still intact and is visible from passing trains.
Facilities
The station is unmanned, but there is a ticket machine provided to allow passengers to buy prior to travel or collect pre-paid tickets. Train running information can be obtained by phone and timetable posters. There is step-free access to both platforms from the nearby road bridge via ramps.
Services
On Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are two trains an hour westbound to Southport and eastbound to Wigan. Beyond Wigan, services run alternately to Manchester Victoria via Atherton (some continue eastwards to Stalybridge and points east) and to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport via Bolton Interchange. After 19:30 the service drops to hourly each way.
On Sundays there is an hourly service to Southport and Stockport via Manchester Piccadilly. Alternate Stockport trains continue on to Hazel Grove or Chester via Altrincham.