 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Blackpool North railway station" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Blackpool North   | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Blackpool North station entrance | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Blackpool,Borough of Blackpool, England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°49′18″N3°02′57″W / 53.8218°N 3.0493°W /53.8218; -3.0493 | ||||
| Grid reference | SD310366 | ||||
| Managed by | Northern Trains | ||||
| Platforms | 6 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | BPN | ||||
| Classification | DfT category C1 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Preston and Wyre Joint Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway &London and North Western Railway (joint) | ||||
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 29 April 1846 | Opened asBlackpool[1] | ||||
| 1872 | RenamedBlackpool Talbot Road[1] | ||||
| 1898 | Rebuilt[2] | ||||
| 17 March 1932 | RenamedBlackpool North[1] | ||||
| 1974 | Rebuilt on site of former excursion platforms | ||||
| 16 June 2024 | Tram stop opens | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1.792 million | ||||
| 2020/21 |  0.535 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 1.782 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1.909 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1.973 million | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
Blackpool North is the main railway station serving the seaside resort ofBlackpool, inLancashire, England. It is the terminus of the mainBlackpool branch line and is17+1⁄2 miles (28 km) north-west ofPreston. There is an adjacent tram stop on theBlackpool Tramway.
It was opened in its present form in 1974 and succeeded a previous station a few hundred yards away on Talbot Road, which had first opened in 1846 and had been rebuilt in 1898. The present station is based on the 1938 concrete canopy which covered the entrance to the former excursion platforms of the old station. The town's other station,Blackpool South, facilitates services towards Preston andColne; it does not connect to Blackpool North.
Blackpool North has regular services toManchester Piccadilly,Liverpool Lime Street,Bolton,Wigan North Western, Preston,Blackburn,Leeds andYork. There are twointer-city trains per day toLondon Euston.
The first station opened on 29 April 1846 asBlackpool, renamedBlackpool Talbot Road in 1872. It was first rebuilt in 1898, consisting of two parallel train sheds and a terminal building, in Dickson Road between Talbot Road and Queen Street. Platforms 1 to 6 were located in the sheds, with a larger island between platforms 1 and 2 to accommodate taxis. In addition, there was effectively, in all but name, a separate station at the east end of Queen Street, with open excursion platforms 7 to 16, used only in summer.[3]
The station was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report (1963), but it wasBlackpool Central that was closed in 1964.Blackpool Corporation had lobbied for Central station to close instead, in order to use the site for redevelopment.[4]
The main station buildings, train shed and platforms were decommissioned and demolished in 1974; the 1938 excursion platform canopy building was refurbished to become the new main station.
Blackpool North was on theInterCity network until 2003, whenVirgin Trains West Coast andVirgin CrossCountry withdrewHigh Speed Train andVoyager services to London Euston andBirmingham New Street.[5] Former local franchise holderFirst North Western ran services from Blackpool to London Euston, but these were soon discontinued. However, in the December 2014 timetable change, Virgin reintroduced direct services to/from London Euston, albeit only on weekdays and only one each way per day.
Virgin CrossCountry used to run up to eight services per day to Blackpool North fromPortsmouth Harbour,Brighton andLondon Paddington.[6][5] The services were introduced by Virgin to increase the frequency of the CrossCountry trains and were introduced in 2000. They were withdrawn in summer 2003 by theStrategic Rail Authority to improve the general punctuality of train services.[7]First North Western used to operate a Monday-Saturdayboat train to/fromHolyhead (which attached to a portion fromStockport) until 2003 and briefly operated a service between Blackpool and London Euston.[8][9]
In November 2010, it was announced that the lines between Blackpool, Preston and Manchester would be electrified.[10]This resulted in the semaphore signalling at the station being replaced by modern colour lights, controlled from the WCML North Rail Operating Centre in Manchester and the station track and platform layout being altered, with the eight curved platforms reduced to six and on a straighter alignment than previously. The project was due for completion by May 2016,[11] with the line onwards to Manchester following by the end of the year. This was subsequently pushed back twice: first to March 2017 and then again to early 2018 (after contractorsBalfour Beatty pulled out), so that the track remodelling and resignalling work could be carried out at the same time as the wiring, reducing disruption to passengers (as only one period of closure would be required).[12][13]
The remodelling required the station to be completely closed for a significant period of time (up to 18 weeks according to Network Rail),[14] with additional weekend and evening blocks before and after. Replacement buses to Preston operated during the closure. The station was closed until 16 April 2018 for the work to take place.[15] A major rebuild and upgrade of the nearby carriage servicing depot was carried out at the same time.
The station is staffed and open for 24 hours a day. It is equipped withpayphones,vending machines, toilets and indoor seating,[16] as well as acustomer service office and abooking office.[17] Step-free access to the station and platform is available for passengers with wheelchairs or prams, and portable ramps are also available for platform-to-train access.[16] The station has its own covered concourse with acafe and aconvenience store.[17] The station also has a 30-space car park[16] and bus connections, which can also accommodatePlusbus ticket holders.[18]
As Blackpool is a populartouristresort, with itsPleasure Beach and beaches, there are many measures put in to prevent fare evasion, including automated barrier checks,[19] as well as the conductors on the trains.
The station is approximately half-a-mile (0.8 km) along Talbot Road from the Blackpool Tramway, which is to be extended to the station in 2018/19 as part of a new transport interchange.[20][needs update]
.jpg)
The station is served by twotrain operating companies; the typical weekday service pattern in trains per hour/day is:
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Northern Trains Blackpool North toManchester Airport | |||
| Northern Trains Blackpool North toLiverpool Lime Street | ||||
| Northern Trains Blackpool North toYork | ||||
| Avanti West Coast West Coast Main Line Blackpool branch | ||||
Limited service | ||||
| Blackpool Tramway | ||||
| Talbot Square | Blackpool Tramway | North Pier | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Blackpool Branch Line | Bispham | ||
In 2017, approval was given for the construction of a new 550-metre (1,800 ft), £21 million branch of theBlackpool Tramway from North Pier to Blackpool North station, with a new tram terminal opposite the station. This recreates the route of an earlier tramway connection to the station along Talbot Road which operated between 1902 and 1936. It means that the tramway will almost connect Blackpool's two main railway stations, asBlackpool South is a few minutes walk away fromWaterloo Road tram stop.[23][24]
Work on the branch began in 2018 and it was originally meant to be open in April 2019; however, completion of the branch required the demolition of aWilko store which sat at the site of the terminus. Delays in relocating the store mean that its demolition was not completed until September 2020. A second delay came from theCOVID-19 pandemic. The first test tram ran on the branch in March 2022.[25] After another long delay, partially due to ongoing hotel works, a final round of testing commenced on 23 April 2024.[citation needed] The first passenger service ran on 12 June 2024 as a special service, with a full service beginning four days later.[26][27]
