Poulton-le-Fylde railway station

Poulton-le-Fylde
Poulton-le-Fylde station in 2023
General information
Location	Poulton-le-Fylde, Wyre England
Coordinates	53.8484°N 2.9906°W / 53.8484; -2.9906
Grid reference	SD349395
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	PFY
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
15 July 1840	Original station opened
1896	New station on realigned route
Passengers
2017/18	0.423 million
2018/19	0.433 million
2019/20	0.547 million
2020/21	0.106 million
2021/22	0.425 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains, but also served by Avanti West Coast and is 14+1⁄4 miles (22.9 km) northwest of Preston.

History

Railways in Poulton-le-Fylde. The dates refer to passenger services.

The original station was about 400 yards (400 m) north-east of the current location, at "The Breck". The railway to the fishing town of Fleetwood passed along a straight line east of the town. From 1846, there was a junction to Blackpool just north of the station, with tight connecting curves facing either way. In 1893 a fatal accident occurred when a train took the curve too fast. Subsequently, in 1896, the tracks were realigned to follow a much gentler westward curve to Blackpool, with the new station halfway along the curve. The Fleetwood branch then curved to the east to rejoin the original alignment. The old station continued to be used as a goods station until 1968.

Passenger services to Fleetwood were withdrawn by British Rail on 1 June 1970 during railway restructuring, although a freight service continued to the ICI plant at Burn Naze Halt until 1999. The line is still extant (albeit overgrown and disused), but the junction with the Blackpool line west of the station was removed in April 2017 in preparation for electrification of the route. Since June 2006, there have been plans to restore (and preserve) the passenger rail link towards Fleetwood via Thornton & Cleveleys, as a heritage railway; a £30,000 feasibility study is needed to be undertaken to explore the re-instatement of the link and the addition of a third platform at Poulton-le-Fylde.

Facilities

An arrivals board on the eastbound side of the station

The station has a staffed ticket office at street level, staffed throughout the week (Monday to Saturday 06:10-19:30 and Sunday 06:40-18:10). There is also a self-service ticket machine provided for use outside these times and for collecting pre-paid tickets. There is a waiting room at platform level, along with toilets, bench seating and timetable posters. Train running information is offered via automatic announcements and digital display screens. Step-free access is available via lifts from the entrance to the platform when the ticket office is staffed.

Services

As of December 2022 the station is served by four Northern trains per hour to and from Blackpool North westbound, and trains to Manchester Airport (two per hour), Liverpool Lime Street, and York via the Calder Valley line in the eastbound direction. On Sundays the service is reduced to three trains per hour in each direction, with only one train per hour to Manchester Airport.

Additionally, on weekdays until May 2023 one Avanti West Coast train per day to London Euston called at the station in the southbound direction only, departing at 05:36. This was replaced in the May 2023 timetable change by a Sunday-only service to Preston calling at Kirkham and Wesham, departing at 18:28.

The station was also served by a single DalesRail service to Carlisle via Settle during the summer months and to Hellifield (for onward travel to Settle and Carlisle) for the remainder of the year. Since December 2022 though, this service has been withdrawn (Northern hope to reinstate it at some point in the future).

Modernisation

The modernisation and electrification of the Preston to Blackpool North line, and hence Poulton-le-Fylde station was announced in December 2009. The modernisation included completely new signalling of the entire line along with rationalisation of the lines and removal of the connection into the Fleetwood branch. The removal of the signal box along with four others along the line was included as part of the works. This resulted in a total blockade of the line from 11 November 2017 until 25 March 2018 but subsequently extended to 16 April 2018 due to bad weather.

Visual reporting point

The station is a visual reporting point (VRP) for general aviation aircraft in the local Blackpool airspace.

See also

• Public transport in the Fylde

References

• Mitchell, L. & Hartley, S. (2005) "Lancashire Historic Town Survey—Poulton-le-Fylde". Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009. (19.1 MiB), Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, accessed 30 October 2007
• Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN 1-85306-801-2
• Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1-870754-61-1

External links

• Train times and station information for Poulton-le-Fylde railway station from National Rail
• Blackpool & Fylde Rail Users’ Association—Poulton, accessed 17 October 2007
• Poulton & Wyre Railway Society, working towards restoring the passenger rail link to Fleetwood.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Blackpool North		Avanti West Coast Blackpool North branch line Limited service		Kirkham & Wesham
Layton		Northern Trains Blackpool North to Manchester Airport
Blackpool North
		Northern Trains Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street		Preston
				Kirkham & Wesham Sunday only
		Northern Trains Blackpool North to York		Kirkham & Wesham Monday to Saturday
				Preston
	Historical railways
Bispham		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Blackpool Branch Line		Singleton
	Disused railways
Thornton for Cleveleys		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Fleetwood Branch Line		Singleton