Rochdale railway station

Not to be confused with Rochdale Town Centre, a proposed station on the future Rochdale Metrolink line.

Rochdale
Rochdale railway station
Location
Place	Rochdale
Local authority	Rochdale
Operations
Station code	RCD
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	3
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.598 million
2005/06 *	0.641 million
2006/07 *	0.652 million
2007/08 *	0.690 million
2008/09 *	0.998 million
2009/10 *	1.006 million
History
1839 1889 1979	Original station opened Current station opened Reduced to 3 platforms
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Rochdale from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Rochdale railway station serves the town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened a station serving the town in the 19th century. The station was built, for reasons of economy of building and operation, some distance to the South (and up a steep hill) from the town centre.

The station is on the Caldervale Line, which is managed by Northern Rail. The station also had a bay platform which was the terminus for Oldham Loop Line services until the line's closure in October 2009, in preparation for conversion to Manchester Metrolink. Metrolink trams are due to commence operation from Rochdale railway station in spring 2012.

History

The original station opened in 1839 adjacent to Moss Lane, to the east of the current station which was opened in 1889.

The current station previously served lines to Bolton (via Bury) and Bacup as well as the lines still in existence. It had eight platforms (four through platforms & four bays) and two entrances, one on Maclure Road and another on Miall Street. In 1979 the station was reduced to three platforms (with the closure & abandonment of the eastern island platform and its bays) and the Miall Street entrance was closed. Passengers now walk through a subway from the Maclure Road entrance and climb stairs to the main concourse which includes a ticket office and snack bar.

Services

Caldervale Line

Since the December 2008 timetable change, the service on this route has been revamped - there are now four trains per hour to Manchester Victoria and three to Leeds during the daytime (Monday to Saturday). Two of the four Manchester trains run non-stop, whilst the other two serve all intermediate stations. One of the latter (which starts from Rochdale) continues to Bolton and Wigan Wallgate. Eastbound there are two trains that run via Bradford Interchange (one calling only at Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Halifax, the other calling at all stations) to Leeds and one via Brighouse and Dewsbury.

In the evenings and on Sundays there is an hourly service stopping at all stations to Manchester Victoria and Leeds via Bradford.

Frontage of Rochdale station, September 2007

Future plans

Rochdale Railway Station
Manchester Metrolink
The new Rochdale line
Location
Place	Rochdale
Local authority	Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
Fare zone information
Metrolink Zone
Present status	Proposed station
Conversion to Metrolink operation	Summer 2012
Oldham and Rochdale Line Rochdale Town Centre Rochdale Railway Station  Newbold Kingsway Business Park Milnrow Newhey Shaw and Crompton Derker Oldham Mumps Oldham Central Oldham King Street Westwood Freehold South Chadderton Hollinwood Failsworth Newton Heath and Moston Central Park Monsall Manchester Victoria  to Piccadilly
UK Trams portal

Plans to extend Manchester Metrolink light rail network to Rochdale, as part of the "Big Bang" Metrolink expansion project (Phase 3A). began in 2009. Under these plans, most of the Oldham Loop Line will be converted to light rail operation. Northern Rail services via Oldham ceased in October 2009, when the line closed to allow this conversion work to start.

A further phase of the project (Phase 3B) proposes the addition of a Metrolink branch via the old branch line via Oldham Central and the extension of the northern end of the line via a tram line into Rochdale Town Centre.

Proposals to link Rochdale to a light rail system have been put forward since the 1980s, but remained unfunded until recently. Following the rejection of the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund in a public referendum in 2008, Phase 3B of the project seemed in doubt until new funding from national and local government enabled the project to go ahead.

In addition to the Metrolink plans, £300,000 has been jointly invested by Network Rail, Northern and the GMITA to renovate the station, as part of the Department for Transport's Nationals Station Improvement Programme. The CCTV system will be extended, and the station will have upgraded toilets, improved flooring and work on the subway.

Gallery

• 

  1959

• 

  1977

• 

  1980

• 

  2007

• 

  2007

References

• The Manchester and Leeds Railway by Martin Bairstow
• Lost Railways of Lancashire by Gordon Suggitt (ISBN 1-85306-801-2)

External links

• Rochdale Railway Station Metrolink station plans

Railways in Rochdale (Past, Present and Future)
Legend To Bacup To Calderdale Broadley Littleborough Shawclough and Healey Wardleworth Smithy Bridge Rochdale Town Centre Drake Street Rochdale Newbold Kingsway To Bury Milnrow Broadfield New Hey To Oldham Heywood Castleton Middleton Mills Hill To Manchester

• Train times and station information for Rochdale railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Castleton towards Bolton		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Terminus
Manchester Victoria towards Manchester Victoria		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Smithy Bridge towards Leeds via Bradford Interchange
Manchester Victoria towards Manchester Victoria		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Todmorden towards Leeds via Bradford Interchange
Castleton towards Manchester Victoria		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Smithy Bridge towards Leeds via Dewsbury
Preceding station		Manchester Metrolink		Following station
		Under Construction
Newbold towards Victoria		Oldham and Rochdale Line		Rochdale Town Centre Terminus
	Disused railways
Milnrow		L&YR Oldham Loop Line		Terminus
Terminus		L&YR Rochdale to Bacup Line		Wardleworth