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Burnley Manchester Road

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Starmill

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I was quite surprised on my recent first visit to this station that it's all errrm well a bit crap really! Wooden platform, some sort of odd concrete block device holding up the ramp to platform 1 (at least it has step free access) and not much at all in the way of existing facilities. Given this is the station with the fastest and long distance services - and only real eastward service from the town I had expected it to be better than Burnley Central, not worse!

Anyway things appear to be on the up. A ticket office was under construction as well as a refurbished car/bicycle park I think and one of Northern's horrible Parkeon machines too has been installed, better than nowt (I can't believe everybody had to buy a ticket on the train here until recently!). Can anyone tell me when the wooden platforms and horrible looking ramp thing to P1 were installed? They don't exactly look original to the station, which Wikipedia suggests was 1860. Is what's there now from the 1986 date they give?

Also; it seems the station is being re-staffed after all these years then? Surely that's got to be one for the books? How many stations have been re-staffed since privatization? I know there were some de-staffings recently on LM, one I remember seeing first hand was Lye.
 
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MidnightFlyer

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I believe the station's platforms date from the 1986 reopening, but am willing to be corrected - it originally closed when the Copy Pit line did back under Beeching.

Restaffed since privatisation, off the top of my head:
Burnley Manchester Rd, Nelson, Bathgate, Ludlow (agency), Nailsea & Backwell and Worle.
Destaffed since privatisation, off the top of my head:
Renton, Hilsea, Lye, Hamstead, Wythall, Cheddington.

Martin Mill and Drayton Park were proposed to be destaffed but rejected, Attleborough, North Walsham and Wymondham were all restaffed as part of a trial under NXEA, but lost them once more when AGA took over.

Edit - Yate also might belong to the restaffed list. Horwich Parkway was unstaffed when initially opened bit gained a booking office a few years later.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
And another for you: Whitland was destaffed in 1998.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
... And some more! Chester-le-Street was restaffed in the late 1990s (not sure on that one!) by an independent agency, who have since done similar at Eaglescliffe literally a couple of years ago. Thornaby was destaffed in the early 90s and was restaffed once more in 2003.
 
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Starmill

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... And some more! Chester-le-Street was restaffed in the late 1990s (not sure on that one!) by an independent agency, who have since done similar at Eaglescliffe literally a couple of years ago. Thornaby was destaffed in the early 90s and was restaffed once more in 2003.

Ledbury? Bargoed? Could go on, but they are all independent Ticket Offices :p
 

MidnightFlyer

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Bargoed was one of the destaffings as far as I know! I thought it was now a taxi office :|

You're right with Ledbury - similar exists at Newtown (Powys). Saxmundham had one but it was discontinued.
 

ianhr

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It is claimed that Wakefield Kirkgate will be restaffed when the building work (which is progressing incredibly slowly) is finished.
 

wasi

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One of my local stations :)

As you said there have been more or less zero developments for a number of years, until the announcement of the Manchester Victoria direct service via the Todmorden curve, which is due to start in December. Which as others have said will have a huge impact on the town.

Especially with the local football team being promoted to the Premier League passenger numbers are expected to increase massively on the line from August onwards.

The station itself is muted to be open within the next few weeks.

Great news for everyone in the area.
 

Starmill

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All it needs now are some departure screens on the platform!
 

Mugby

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Presumably the reason for Burnley Manchester Road was to enable the people of Burnley to travel to and from the east, Halifax, Bradford, Leeds etc. without having to set off in the wrong direction and change.

Does anyone know how far the station is from Burnley town centre?
 

ianhr

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Presumably the reason for Burnley Manchester Road was to enable the people of Burnley to travel to and from the east, Halifax, Bradford, Leeds etc. without having to set off in the wrong direction and change.

Does anyone know how far the station is from Burnley town centre?

A 5 to 10 min uphill walk, but you have to cross a horrible inner ring road and something needs to be done about this.

It is not significantly more inconvenient than Burnley Central and good that it will be staffed. I hope that they do something about the shoddy platforms though.
 
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Starmill

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A 5 to 10 min uphill walk, but you have to cross a horrible inner ring road and something needs to be done about this.

It is not significantly more inconvenient than Burnley Central and good that it will be staffed. I hope that they do something about the shoddy platforms though.

They are very tatty looking - and if it's going to get busier they aren't very long platforms, might platform end gates be a good idea?

When I did the walk it was quite a difficult crossing of the road just by the station! Also; the ticket machine isn't near the ticket office, which seems odd.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Bargoed was one of the destaffings as far as I know! I thought it was now a taxi office :|

Correct on both counts; there is now a lady and her husband who run what seems like a typical corner shop (papers, confectionery, booze, etc.) in the station building and they also sell tickets there. She said they'd been there around 18 months and she seemed to take a little bit of credit for persuading ATW to refurbish the waiting room on the cardiff-bound platform (was that closed at the time of the TO?). The taxi office is still there.

Do any of the other independent retailers of tickets have general shops? I know Merseyrail have some.
 
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MidnightFlyer

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Correct on both counts; there is now a lady and her husband who run what seems like a typical corner shop (papers, confectionery, booze, etc.) in the station building and they also sell tickets there. She said they'd been there around 18 months and she seemed to take a little bit of credit for persuading ATW to refurbish the waiting room on the cardiff-bound platform (was that closed at the time of the TO?). The taxi office is still there.

Do any of the other independent retailers of tickets have general shops? I know Merseyrail have some.

Thanks for clarifying that. The waiting room adjacent to the taxi booking office has always been open afaik. As for retailers being jack of all trades, Ludlow's sells everything from drinks to local history books. Barmouth's is located within a tourist office so there's probably some variety there too.
 
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I believe the station's platforms date from the 1986 reopening, but am willing to be corrected - it originally closed when the Copy Pit line did back under Beeching.

The Copy Pit line was not closed under Beeching (or even recommended for closure). The line looked destined for closure after the withdrawal of the last daily Leeds to Blackpool service and freight in the early 80s. But services resumed months later when the a building society moved staff from Burnley to Bradford and in a rapid reversal BR were soon running five or six trains a day in each direction. This was one of the reasons that the singling of the Calder Valley line between Sowerby Bridge and Bradford planned at that time never happened. Both much to my relief.

However you are right that Burnley Manchester Road was closed at around the same time as Beeching, the Leeds to Blackpool train called at Rose Grove.
 
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61653 HTAFC

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The Copy Pit line was not closed under Beeching (or even recommended for closure). The line looked destined for closure after the withdrawal of the last daily Leeds to Blackpool service and freight in the early 80s. But services resumed months later when the a building society moved staff from Burnley to Bradford and in a rapid reversal BR were soon running five or six trains a day in each direction. This was one of the reasons that the singling of the Calder Valley line between Sowerby Bridge and Bradford planned at that time never happened. Both much to my relief.

However you are right that Burnley Manchester Road was closed at around the same time as Beeching, the Leeds to Blackpool train called at Rose Grove.

Shocking that the short-termism of singling lines was still being considered and in several cases carried out, as (relatively) recently as that. The savings from singling lines like Swindon-Cheltenham and stretches of the WoE could only possibly be a tiny fraction of the cost of reinstating the second track- which in many cases is now needed.
I suppose that in the case of Salisbury-Exeter it allowed curves to be eased, but surely it's better to be able to run 3tph at 40mph than just one at 60mph.
 

Starmill

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Shocking that the short-termism of singling lines was still being considered and in several cases carried out, as (relatively) recently as that. The savings from singling lines like Swindon-Cheltenham and stretches of the WoE could only possibly be a tiny fraction of the cost of reinstating the second track- which in many cases is now needed.
I suppose that in the case of Salisbury-Exeter it allowed curves to be eased, but surely it's better to be able to run 3tph at 40mph than just one at 60mph.

And to think. Nowadays Halifax has nearly 2 million passengers a year and a new station is being built on that line. :o
 

scrapy

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Anybody know whether the booking office will be full or part time? Will it affect staffing Burnley Central? which at the moment has longer ticket office opening hours than Blackburn despite only one train per hour in each direction and I believe northern would like to cut this.
 

Starmill

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Anybody know whether the booking office will be full or part time? Will it affect staffing Burnley Central? which at the moment has longer ticket office opening hours than Blackburn despite only one train per hour in each direction and I believe northern would like to cut this.

NRE said:
Burnley Central
Monday - Friday 06:35 - 21:45
Saturday 06:35 - 21:45
Sunday 11:25 - 19:00

Those are indeed excellent opening hours.
 

Darren R

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....Burnley Central which at the moment has longer ticket office opening hours than Blackburn...

Hell's teeth - yer not kidding! Just looked it up on NRE (not because I doubted the veracity of your statement, it just aroused my curiosity!) - Blackburn's opening hours are:

Monday - Friday 06:40 - 19:15
Saturday 06:40 - 19:15
Sunday 09:10 - 16:40

Significantly shorter than Burnley Central's posted earlier - despite 1.384 million passengers last year, compared to Burnley Central's 140,308. Does Burnley Central's booking office receive some sort of council subsidy that Blackburn's does not?

Even if the ticket office can be said to be serving all four stations in the town (including Rose Grove), that's still only around 450,000 passengers last year. If the ticket office at Burnley Central is 'officially' considered to serve all the stations in the town, then the staffing of Burnley Manchester Road must indeed cast doubt on at least the opening times of the current ticket office across town at Central.
 
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Shocking that the short-termism of singling lines was still being considered and in several cases carried out, as (relatively) recently as that. The savings from singling lines like Swindon-Cheltenham and stretches of the WoE could only possibly be a tiny fraction of the cost of reinstating the second track- which in many cases is now needed.
I suppose that in the case of Salisbury-Exeter it allowed curves to be eased, but surely it's better to be able to run 3tph at 40mph than just one at 60mph.

I did check my facts before posting and Wiki had this to say (it did quote a source).

The British Railways Board's Corporate Plan for 1983 – 1988 marked the routes between Milner Royd Junction (east of Sowerby Bridge) and Bowling Junction (south of Bradford Interchange); and Milner Royd Junction and Heaton Lodge Junction (west of Mirfield) to be 'singled' on a list "The Proposed Elimination of Non-Essential Multiple Tracks"

Its certainly my recollection that the reintroduction of the Copy Pit service saved this by introducing an extra 1tph (at least some hours) between Milner Royd and Bowling. So a building society moving from Burnley to Bradford saved both the Copy Pit line and the singling of the line between Halifax and Bradford. I believe the building society building may now be the large Santander office you can see close to Bradford Interchange.
 
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Tetchytyke

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I believe the building society building may now be the large Santander office you can see close to Bradford Interchange.

The Santander buildings by Croft Street were built in the late-90s, when the original glass Interchange bus station was bulldozed and replaced.
 

Deerfold

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And to think. Nowadays Halifax has nearly 2 million passengers a year and a new station is being built on that line. :o

The line has blossomed since the 80s - this was my local line from 1986-1992 and 1996-2001.

Back in 1986 there was an hourly all-stops service between Leeds and Manchester and a handful of Leeds - Blackpool services. Now there's 4 trains an hour Leeds - Halifax, 3 an hour to Manchester (2 via Halifax, 1 via Brighouse) with an hourly service to Blackpool, the reopening of the line through Brighouse...most of it achieved by the early 90s - though the more recent 3tph service between Leeds and Halifax on a Sunday is quite impressive.

Shame Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge no longer have 2 tph to Bradford though.
 
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Starmill

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The line has blossomed since the 80s - this was my local line from 1986-1992 and 1996-2001.

Back in 1986 there was an hourly all-stops service between Leeds and Manchester and a handful of Leeds - Manchester services. Now there's 4 trains an hour Leeds - Halifax, 3 an hour to Manchester (2 via Halifax, 1 via Brighouse) with an hourly service to Blackpool, the reopening of the line through Brighouse...most of it achieved by the early 90s - though the more recent 3tph service between Leeds and Halifax on a Sunday is quite impressive.

Shame Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge no longer have 2 tph to Bradford though.

Indeed, and the evening service of 1tph on the whole lot is a bit dire too...

But it is remarkably good and we are rather nit-picking there!
 

aylesbury2

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I'm planning to get to Turf Moor next season; I'm definitely getting VT from Euston-Preston and then the Caldervale Line from there to Manchester Road. I've checked both on RTT and the services I'm looking for are definitely Pendos - yay! :D

Google Maps is saying that Central and Manchester Road are both the same walking distance from Turf Moor stadium; is this true?

I think there is a different connection involved and it sounds like Manchester Road is more convenient as some journey options are listing a walk from MR to Central. I think this is the case - so is MR definitely a better option? There is no difference in price at the times I want to arrive and leave - looking at a 3.5 hour journey roughly both ways including waiting times at Preston for the Northern Rail service.
 

AndyHudds

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Central is probably a little closer but it's all down hill from Manchester Road to Turf Moor, the ground is visible from Manchester Road and will take about 10/15 minutes to walk. Central is better located for the town centre, so pubs and eateries aren't too far away. Not sure if the ticket allows Burnley stations or whether they are Central or Manchester Road as oppose to any.

Both stations only have one train an hour from Preston, its your call, whichever has the train first after the game.
 
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aylesbury2

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Central is probably a little closer but it's all down hill from Manchester Road to Turf Moor, the ground is visible from Manchester Road and will take about 10/15 minutes to walk. Central is better located for the town centre, so pubs and eateries aren't too far away. Not sure if the ticket allows Burnley stations or whether they are Central or Manchester Road as oppose to any.

Both stations only have one train an hour from Preston, its your call, whichever has the train first after the game.

Cheers! I can't book the rail tickets a until July 4th when the changes to televised fixtures are announced as they will probably be altered, I'll have a look closer to the time as to when the exact timings are.
 

Darren R

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I'm planning to get to Turf Moor next season...

Why?! Have you sought medical advice? :p

[Serious answer]:

Catch the train to Manchester Road. It is faster than the all-shacks Pacer to Colne, and should always be the pride of Northern's diesel fleet - the 158. :lol:

More importantly, Manchester Road station is nearer to Turf Moor than Central station is, and it is a much easier and simpler route 'twixt station and defeat. :D Turn left as you come out of the station, cross over and walk down the dual carriageway the short distance to the large roundabout at the bottom, keeping right and following the dual carriageway. After a short distance there is another roundabout (by the Bingo Hall); turn right here, under the distinctive canal bridge and Turf Moor is not far up the road - it's about ten minute's gentle walk from Manchester Road. Burnley Central is much further away, and it is easy to get lost as you walk through Burnley town centre.

I can't say for sure in relation to longer-distance journeys, but certainly on local journeys you have to book to a specific Burnley station: I don't think there is a "Burnley stations" ticket grouping. However, I have never once had a problem with a Northern guard accepting my return ticket to Manchester Road when getting on a train at Burnley Central.
 
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I can't say for sure in relation to longer-distance journeys, but certainly on local journeys you have to book to a specific Burnley station: I don't think there is a "Burnley stations" ticket grouping. However, I have never once had a problem with a Northern guard accepting my return ticket to Manchester Road when getting on a train at Burnley Central.

To be pedantic, Burnley Stations group is defunct I do seem to remember it was possible to travel on a Burnley Stations ticket from Hebden Bridge to Burnley Central via Accrington.
 

Starmill

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I've always wondered why really useless groups like HELENSBURGH STNS or very minor ones like BOOTLE STATIONS exist while things like Burnley Stations, Birkenhead Stations and Cardiff Stations are gone. Formalising inter-availability at Blackpool, and looking at New Mills would be good too. I suspect confusion would be alleviated too if it could become EDNBURH WAV/HYM and I can't see what'd be wrong with WREXHAM STNS or LICHFIELD STNS nowadays.
 
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Lampshade

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I've always wondered why really useless groups like HELENSBURGH STNS or very minor ones like BOOTLE STATIONS exist while things like Burnley Stations, Birkenhead Stations and Cardiff Stations are gone.

I think Burnley is a hangover from when two TOCs ran the Northern franchises, FNW managed and ran services from Central and Barracks whereas Manchester Road was only served by ATN.
 
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