The Anonymous Widower

‘Cut-Off For 58 Years’ Town To Get Railway Station

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Plans to build Greater Manchester’s first new railway station for a quarter of a century have been approved for a town cut off from the rail network since 1967.

These two introductory paragraphs give more details.

The £32m station in Golborne, near Wigan, was proposed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) after a residents’ campaign.

Since trains stopped calling at Golborne 58 years ago, the town has been left without any direct transport links to and from Manchester.

This Google Map shows the location of Golborne.

Note.

1. The A 580, which is one of main Liverpool and Manchester roads going across the bottom of the map.
2. If you drive West along the A 580 from here, you connect to the M6 at Junction 23 ; Haydock Island.
3. Continuing West takes you to Liverpool.
4. Going East along the A 580 takes you to the M60 and Manchester.
5. Running North-South up the map is the West Coast Main Line and currently, it appears to be four electrified tracks all the way to Wigan North Western station.
6. Nook Lane crosses the West Coast Main Line at the top of the map.

This second Google Map shows the West Coast Main Line through Golborne.

Note.

1. The four tracks of the West Coast Main Line run North-South up the centre of the map.
2. Nook Lane can be clearly seen.

My best guess is that the station will be built to the South of where the A 573 crosses the West Coast Main Line.

• A picture in the BBC article shows four platforms, with three lifts to give full step-free access.
• It looks like there is a brownfield site to the South of this location, where parking could be provided.

The new Golborne station could be a bit more than a simple station serving a small town.

I have a few thoughts.

How Many High Speed Two trains Will Go Through Golborne Station?

This graphic shows High Speed Two services, as proposed by HS2 after Phase 2b opens.

Note.

1. Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
2. Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
3. Each service will run once an hour.
4. The nine services to the right of the vertical black line have been scrapped.
5. There are elevenservices that terminate at Euston in every hour.
6. Eight are High Speed Two Full Size trains, which are 400 metres long.
7. Two are single High Speed Two Classic-Compatible  trains, which are 200 metres long.
8. Three are pairs of High Speed Two Classic-Compatible  trains, which are 400 metres long.

How Many High Speed Two trains Will Go Through Golborne Station?

This will be the same as the number of trains going through Wigan North Western station.

These are.

• London Euston and Lancaster – 200 m.
• London Euston and Glasgow/Edinburgh – 400 m.
• London Euston and Glasgow/Edinburgh – 400 m.
• Birmingham and Glasgow/Edinburgh – 200 m.

Note.

1. That is only four trains per hour (tph).
2. As High Speed Two will be digitally signalled, I suspect that four fast tph and four slow tph could be accommodated between Wigan North Western and Golborne.
3. The problem could be eased by running 125 mph or even 140 mph trains on local services on the West Coast Main Line.
4. But the major problem will be North of Wigan North Western station, where there are only two tracks.

I also wonder, if increasing the number of high speed paths to five, would mean that no 400 m. trains would need to run North of Crewe, so there would be less need for platforms to be lengthened.

Is Wigan North Western Station Ready For High Speed Two?

I answered this question in 2019 in Is Wigan North Western Station Ready For High Speed Two? and felt, it was getting close.

I shall visit this summer and see if it is getting closer to being ready.

May 5, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Golborne South Station, New Stations, Transport for Greater Manchester, Wigan