Euxton Balshaw Lane  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Euxton,Chorley England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°39′39″N2°40′18″W / 53.6607°N 2.6718°W /53.6607; -2.6718 | ||||
| Grid reference | SD557184 | ||||
| Managed by | Northern Trains | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | EBA | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | London and North Western Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | London and North Western Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 2 September 1905 | Opened asBalshaw Lane and Euxton | ||||
| 6 October 1969 | Closed | ||||
| 15 December 1997 | Reopened asEuxton Balshaw Lane | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  12,752 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  55,858 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 54,084 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 66,130 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 75,928 | ||||
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Euxton Balshaw Lane is one of two railway stations situated inEuxton/ˈɛkstən/,Lancashire, England. It is a local station on theBlackpool North toLiverpool Lime Street route, on the stretch betweenWigan andPreston.
The railway line betweenWigan andPreston was opened by theNorth Union Railway (NUR) on 31 October 1838,[1] and among the original stations wasone at Euxton, close to the Bay Horse public house on the south side of Euxton Lane. The NUR was split up in 1889, part of it (including Euxton station) becoming wholly owned by theLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR).[2] Euxton station closed on 2 September 1895[3] at the behest of the Anderton Family.
A new station namedBalshaw Lane and Euxton, betweenCoppull andLeyland[4] and about3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) south of the original Euxton station, was opened by the LNWR on the same day, 2 September 1895.[5]
Balshaw Lane & Euxton station was closed byBritish Rail on 6 October 1969[3] as part of theBeeching review of the UK railway network.
Euxton also had a station at theRoyal Ordnance Factory site,ROF Chorley, on the Preston to Manchester line which opened on 24 January 1938, the station was named 'ROF Halt' and closed on 31 August 1964.[6]
As well as this another station on theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company'sBolton and Preston Railway was built namedEuxton Junction which was near to the Pack Saddle Bridge. Access to this station was via a footbridge from next to today's gastro pub, "The Railway at Euxton". However, this station closed in 1895.[7]
Services from the former Balshaw Lane and Euxton station restarted on 15 December 1997,[8] initially on an "experimental" basis for a period of five years.[9] It was officially reopened in 1998, (the opening ceremony being performed by formerRadio 1 DJ and, latterly,Radio Lancashire presenter and transport enthusiast,Andy Peebles), and was now namedEuxton Balshaw Lane.
The use of "Balshaw Lane" in the station's name was added, at the time of opening, at Lancashire County Council's behest (the main station's sponsor and funder) in view of the possibility, at some future stage, of the opening of a station on the site ofthe Royal Ordnance Factory at Euxton and to distinguish itself (and avoid a subsequent name change) from that station. It was expected that the station at the ROF site might be named either "Euxton" or "Euxton ROF". In fact, when Euxton's other railway station eventually opened in October 2011, on the Manchester-Preston route, it was calledBuckshaw Parkway.[10]
The station has two platforms on the slower north–south lines of theWest Coast Main Line and is served byNorthern Trains with trains toBlackpool North andLiverpool. Euxton Balshaw Lane does not have any full-time staff, PA system or ticket office, nor, unlikeHorwich Parkway railway station, a station built around the same period, any clocks or display screens.A payable car park is also available.
The station has a daily hourly service in each direction with 2 trains per hour in the weekday peaks. Services run fromLiverpool Lime Street toPreston andBlackpool North.[11] Through weekday services to Blackpool North were restored in May 2018 following the completion of electrification work.
{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leyland | Northern Trains Blackpool North toLiverpool Lime Street | Wigan North Western | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Leyland Line and station open | London and North Western Railway North Union Railway | Coppull Line open, station closed | ||
