Bamber Bridge railway station


Bamber Bridge railway station serves the area of Bamber Bridge, England to the south of Preston city centre on the A6 and M6 roads. It is situated on the East Lancashire Line and is managed by Northern.

Description

Its railway station, in common with Lostock Hall, was once much larger and used by many more trains than today. Opened in 1846 by the Blackburn & Preston Railway, it became a junction four years later when the B&PR's successor the East Lancashire Railway opened a direct route to Preston that avoided the need to use the North Union Railway between Farington and Preston. The Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway had in the meantime arrived at Lostock Hall in 1849, putting the village on the main line from Blackburn to Liverpool.
These newer lines all fell victim to BR economies in the aftermath of the Beeching Axe - the direct line to Preston closing to all traffic in April 1972 and the Blackburn to Liverpool trains ending on 6 October 1969. The line was resignalled in 1973 and is now controlled by the power box at Preston, although the distinctive signal box still remains to supervise three level crossings.
On the westbound platform, the station building built in 1846 survives but is no longer used as part of the station. The building has been disused recently but is now being converted into a drop-in centre for pensioners. The waiting room on the eastbound platform and the old pedestrian subway linking the two platforms have both been removed.
Bamber Bridge may not strictly be a "one-street village", but each train to pass through stops traffic; the level crossing cuts across the main road. Only Northern trains en route to and from Preston use Bamber Bridge. It has two platforms, but is unstaffed. Passenger information screens are in operation at the station, along with a long-line P.A system to provide train running information.
As of January 2018, along with other Stations on this line, a new touch screen Ticket Machine was added to the Station.

Services

Monday to Saturdays, there is an hourly service from Bamber Bridge towards Preston westbound and Blackburn, Burnley and Colne, eastbound. There is also an hourly service in each direction on Sundays, with westbound trains running to.
In addition to the basic service, two additional calls are provided by services on the York & Leeds to Blackpool North line during the morning peak period to give additional journey opportunities to Preston for commuters & shoppers. There is also one evening peak additional train from Preston to Blackburn that stops here.