‘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.
- The A 580, which is one of main Liverpool and Manchester roads going across the bottom of the map.
- If you drive West along the A 580 from here, you connect to the M6 at Junction 23 ; Haydock Island.
- Continuing West takes you to Liverpool.
- Going East along the A 580 takes you to the M60 and Manchester.
- 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.
- 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.
- The four tracks of the West Coast Main Line run North-South up the centre of the map.
- 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.
- Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
- Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains.
- Each service will run once an hour.
- The nine services to the right of the vertical black line have been scrapped.
- There are elevenservices that terminate at Euston in every hour.
- Eight are High Speed Two Full Size trains, which are 400 metres long.
- Two are single High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains, which are 200 metres long.
- 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.
- That is only four trains per hour (tph).
- 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.
- The problem could be eased by running 125 mph or even 140 mph trains on local services on the West Coast Main Line.
- 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.
Adding Wigan And Manchester Victoria To The Bee Network
This article on the Railway Gazette has a list of the lines, that will be transferred between Northern Rail and the Bee Network.
Included in the list is this line.
Wigan and Manchester Victoria via the West Coast Main Line and a proposed station at Golborne, which could open from 2025.
I think this route could be the following.
- The Eastern terminal would be Manchester Victoria
- The Northern terminal would be Wigan North Western, as it is on the West Coast Main Line.
- Intermediate stations would be Golborne, Patricoff, Eccles and Salford Central.
- The route is fully electrified with 25 KVAC overhead.
- Most of the route has a 90 mph operating speed.
There is no comparable route in the current timetable.
These are a few thoughts.
Golborne Station
In Beeching Reversal – Reopening Golborne Railway Station, I discussed the reopening of Golborne station.
I didn’t think it would be likely, as it was a cramped site in the middle of a village, as this Google Map shows.
But I didn’t notice the four tracks through the site.
As the line through here, will have to be rebuilt for High Speed Two to raise the operating speed from the current 90 mph to as high as 140 mph. perhaps a high class architect could find a way to build a station at the site on the slow lines?
Improvements To Wigan North Western Station
In Wigan North Western Station Set For Platform Extension Work, I talked about work to make Wigan North Western station ready for High Speed Two.
I concluded, by saying this.
It certainly looks like Wigan North Western station is being updated to have a comprehensive network of local electric services to give a large number of stations, good access to current West Coast Main Line and future High Speed Two services.
I also added this picture of Wigan North Western station.
Wigan North Western station can’t be far off being able to accept pairs of High Speed Two Classic Compatible trains, that will be 400 metres long.
The Wigan North Western and Manchester Victoria service will add Golborne, Patricoff, Eccles, Salford Central and Manchester Victoria to the list.
Connecting To Scottish Services
The Internet gives these times from Wigan North Western.
- London Euston – 1 hour and 55 minutes – Current
- London Euston – 1 hour and 34 minutes – High Speed Two
- Glasgow Central – 2 hours and 35 minutes – Current
- Glasgow Central – 2 hours and 06 minutes – High Speed Two
It looks to me, that there is an awful lot of trackwork to be done to the West Coast Main Line between Wigan North Western and Glasgow Central.
But on the other hand, changing at Wigan North Western will be a reasonably fast alternative, if whilst building High Speed Two to Manchester, the current route is closed.
Beeching Reversal – Reopening Golborne Railway Station
This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
Golborne station was known as Golborne South station in its later years and this Google Map shows the station’s location in the village of Golborne.
I don’t want to disappoint anybody, but I don’t think a station here is a practical idea.
- The proposal would mean adding a new station between Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay stations. Would this slow Avanti West Coast services by an unacceptable amount?
- High Speed Two services will use these tracks. Will that be acceptable to the new route’s engineers.?
- Platforms for the West Coast Main Line and High Speed Two will need to be at least two hundred metres long. Is there enough space?
- Where will the cars be parked in the village?
But the biggest problem, will be the disruption caused by constructing the station in the middle of a village.
Conclusion
I shall be very surprised if this station is reopened.
The Anonymous Widower 