Todmorden railway station

Todmorden Curve

Todmorden station is located by a triangular junction between the lines to Manchester, Burnley and Halifax, with the station itself located on the line towards Manchester. From 1972 until 2015, there was no link between the Manchester and Burnley lines. Railway passengers wishing to travel between Manchester and Burnley had to change at Hebden Bridge or Blackburn.

The station was formerly served by local trains to/from Rose Grove and Preston, which were withdrawn in 1965 (the bay platform they once used can still be seen). The short curve that allowed trains to travel between the Manchester and Burnley was removed in 1972 when the line was re-signalled. Stansfield Hall station used to serve the northern end of the town on this line, but it was closed in 1944.

A project to reinstate the Manchester-Burnley curve was first proposed in 2009, although it was not until the end of 2011 that the finance was finally secured as part of the Regional Growth Fund initiative announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. As first built, the curve ran from a junction approximately 66 feet (20 m) north-east of the viaduct 550 yards (500 m) and connected on to the Copy Pit line at Stanfield Hall Junction, near the footbridge on Stansfield Road (the remains of the curve can still be seen from this bridge).

In 2012 Network Rail began clearing the trackbed of vegetation and investigating the alignment. This assessment concluded that it could be feasible to reinstate the curve, using a slightly less sharp alignment than the original curve. Construction began in summer 2013, with the curve originally planned to be in use from the May 2014 timetable change, delayed from the originally mooted date of the end of 2013, allowing through trains to run from Burnley to Manchester Victoria in less than one hour. Services were delayed due to a lack of available rolling stock and signalling work running behind schedule, and instead began at the May 2015 timetable change.

In addition to the work to lay in new track on the curve itself and a completely new junction at the Todmorden end, significant alterations to the signalling system have been required to allow trains to use the new curve (these were only fully completed in February 2015, which is why the curve could only be used by Burnley-bound trains when the curve was first brought into service). The area is controlled from Preston Power Signal Box. The first train to use the newly commissioned connection was an enthusiasts' charter operated by Pathfinder Tours on 31 May 2014. A regular service began using the curve in May 2015.

Services

Until 12 December 2008, Monday to Saturday daytime there was a half-hourly service from Todmorden to Manchester Victoria (occasionally extending to Liverpool) westbound and Leeds via Halifax eastbound.

Service changes from December 2008

Northern Rail made changes to the Caldervale line services from December 2008. Three trains per hour now run between Leeds and Manchester Victoria - the stopping service that ran prior to the timetable change, calling at all stations via Halifax; via Dewsbury and Brighouse, stopping at Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton; and a limited stop service between Bradford and Manchester, calling at Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale only.

There is an hourly service to Leeds (via Halifax) in the evenings and two trains per hour to Manchester in the evenings and on Sundays.

From the May 2014 timetable change the station gained an additional service each hour to and from the Manchester direction, which will likely be the one to be extended to and from Burnley & Blackburn come May 2015 (and subsequently did so at the spring 2015 timetable change). This working is the one that formerly terminated at Rochdale - it runs through from Kirkby eastbound and returns to Wigan Wallgate.

Services from May 2015

In May 2015, a direct service from Manchester to Burnley & Blackburn began calling at the station.

Future services

Under plans submitted by the new Northern franchisee, further service improvements on the Caldervale line will be introduced in December 2017. These include an extra train per hour from Todmorden to both Manchester & Bradford/Leeds during the day, extra evening services on all routes and new through services to Chester and Liverpool Lime Street (marketed under the "Northern Connect" brand).

Facilities

There is a ticket office on platform 1 (staffed seven days per week, but closed in the late evening) and waiting rooms on both platforms. Information screens were installed in 2012 as part of a programme to provide screens at 18 stations on the Caldervale line and elsewhere in West Yorkshire. Previously, passengers had to rely on automated public-address system announcements. The waiting room has a ginger cat called Dinky available for petting. Step-free access is only available from platform one, as the subway to platform two has steps.

Platform One Gallery is located at the station, an art gallery run by Todmorden Art Group, which is a non profit making organisation. It runs exhibitions on a 4-weekly cycle, and is open to the public Thursday-Sunday 11 am-4 pm. It has 11 studios and 2 painting groups.