Rochdale railway station

Rochdale Add→{{rail-interchange}} Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Rochdale
Managed by	Northern Rail
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	RCD
Key dates
1839 1889 1979	Original station opened Current station opened Reduced to 3 platforms

Rochdale railway station is a multi-modal transport hub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It consists of a Northern Rail-operated heavy rail station on the Caldervale Line, and an adjoining light rail stop which is the terminus of Metrolink's Oldham and Rochdale Line. The original heavy rail element of the station was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1839 (for economical reasons) 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the south of Rochdale town centre. The Metrolink element opened in February 2013. Further changes to the station are planned as part of the Northern Hub rail-enhancement scheme.

History

Heavy rail

Frontage of Rochdale station, September 2007

The town's first station, which opened in 1839, was adjacent to Moss Lane and located around 300 yards (270m) east of the present one. The single storey structure was replaced by the current depot in April 1889, being too small to handle the increasing traffic levels on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's main line between Leeds & Manchester and the associated branch lines to Bury (1848), Oldham (1863) and Bacup (1881) that had subsequently been opened.

The present station previously served lines to Bolton (via Bury, closed in October 1970) and Bacup (closed June 1947) as well as the lines still in existence. It had eight platforms (four through platforms and 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 and 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.
Currently only the two through platforms are regularly used - the former Oldham bay platform is still available, but is normally only utilised for stabling empty stock or turning back late-running trains from the Todmorden direction. Terminating trains from Manchester and beyond use the stub of the former Oldham branch (which has been converted into a turnback siding) to reverse clear of the main line. Signalling at the station has also been modernised, with colour lights controlled from Castleton replacing the semaphores previously in use (the old signal box at Rochdale had to be demolished in 2011 as it stood in the alignment of the planned Metrolink flyover).

Metrolink

See also: History of Manchester Metrolink

Template:Infobox Manchester Metrolink station Proposals to link Rochdale to a light rail system were put forward in the 1980s, but remained unfunded until the 2000s. Plans to extend Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail network to Rochdale were part expansion project Phase 3A, began in 2009. Under these plans, most of the Oldham Loop line was 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. The Metrolink stop at Rochdale Railway Station opened to passengers on 28 February 2013. Trams now pass over the main Caldervale line on a flyover before descending to street level, en route to the new stop at the front of the main line station.

A further phase of the project (Phase 3B) proposed 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 line to Rochdale Town Centre Metrolink station. Following the rejection of the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund in a referendum in 2008, Phase 3B of the project was in doubt until new funding from national and local government enabled the project to go ahead. Work to build these extensions is now underway, with the route through Oldham completed in January 2014, and the extension to the centre of Rochdale due later in 2014.

Services

Main 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; the other two serve all stations. One of the latter (which starts from Rochdale) continues to Bolton and Wigan Wallgate. Eastbound there are two trains 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 calling at all stations to Manchester Victoria and Leeds via Bradford.

Metrolink

There is a basic service of five trams per hour (every 12 minutes) to Oldham & Manchester Victoria tram stop, continuing via the city centre onto the South Manchester Line to East Didsbury each weekday from 06.00 until 00.30 Mon-Thurs and until 01.20 Fridays & Saturdays.

On Sundays between 09.00 and 18.00, a 12-minute frequency operates and a 15-minute service outside these times.

Park and Ride

The station is served by a 217 space Park and Ride car park. This is located on Hare Street to the rear of the railway station. This car park is available for users of both Metrolink and rail services.

Northern Hub

See also: Northern Hub

Following Metrolink enhancements, £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 National Station Improvement Programme. The CCTV system will be extended, and there will be upgraded toilets, improved flooring and work on the subway.

A further round of upgrades & improvements to the station were announced by the government in July 2012 as part of the Northern Hub rail upgrade scheme for the Manchester area. These will include the provision of a new turnback facility for terminating trains from the Manchester direction, extra tracks & platforms - most likely the reinstatement of the currently derelict eastern island - and the reopening of the closed off Miall St subway to connect with it. Completion of the works in the Manchester area could then permit through running from the station to Manchester Airport via the new Ordsall chord as well as to Liverpool and Blackpool via Manchester Victoria. The station will also likely be served by trains to and from Burnley Manchester Road and East Lancashire via Todmorden when the south to west curve there is reopened in 2014.

Gallery

• 
  1959
• 
  1977
• 
  1980
• 
  2007
• 
  2013

References

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

External links

• David Hey's Steam Collection - "Rail Cameraman Barry Hilton's 'Railways Around Rochdale'"
• Rochdale Railway Station Metrolink station plans

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Castleton		Northern Rail Caldervale Line		Smithy Bridge
Manchester Victoria
Preceding station		Manchester Metrolink		Following station
Template:MML stations toward Template:MML stations		Template:MML lines		Terminus
	Under Construction
Template:MML stations toward Template:MML stations		Template:MML lines		Template:MML stations toward Template:MML stations
	Disused railways
Milnrow		L&YR Oldham Loop Line		Terminus
Terminus		L&YR Rochdale to Bacup Line		Wardleworth

Railways in Rochdale
Past, present and future
Rossendale Lines to Bacup Calderdale Lines to Calderdale Broadley Littleborough Shawclough and Healey Smithy Bridge Wardleworth Rochdale Newbold Rochdale Town Centre Kingsway Business Park Milnrow East Lancs Rly to Bury Newhey Broadfield Oldham Lines to Oldham Heywood Castleton Mills Hill Middleton Manchester Lines North to Manchester

[[Category:Manchester Metrolink stations in Rochdale]