Lostock railway station

Lostock
Lostock station (2005), looking east. The Wigan lines on the right (with no platforms) can be seen joining the main line in the distance.
General information
Location	Lostock, Bolton England
Coordinates	53°34′23″N 2°29′38″W / 53.573°N 2.494°W / 53.573; -2.494
Grid reference	SD674086
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Tracks	4
Other information
Station code	LOT
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	Liverpool and Bury Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
c. August 1852	Station opened as Lostock Junction
7 November 1966	Station closed
16 May 1988	Reopened as Lostock Parkway
?	Renamed Lostock
Passengers
2018/19	0.237 million
2019/20	0.280 million
2020/21	47,064
2021/22	0.144 million
2022/23	0.177 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Lostock railway station serves the suburbs of Heaton and Lostock in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Built for the Liverpool and Bury Railway in 1852, the station was closed in 1966, then reopened on a smaller scale in 1988 to serve commuters.

According to large scale Ordnance Survey maps and local usage, the surrounding area is named Lostock Junction and the station is referred to as such by many local people. Network Rail's "location map" uses the same name.^[1] This is similar to the situation in London where Clapham Junction railway station is in fact in Battersea, and the surrounding area has taken the name of Clapham Junction. Lostock itself is over a mile to the west of the station.

The railway line between Bolton and Preston had opened as far as Rawlinson Bridge (between Adlington and Chorley) on 4 February 1841, and among the original stations on this route, the first station out of Bolton was at Blackrod.^[2] On 20 November 1848, the Liverpool and Bury Railway was opened giving a route between Bolton and Wigan, and the point where it connected to the Bolton–Preston line was named Lostock Junction; the first station out of Bolton on this route was Westhoughton. Later, a station was constructed at the junction, also named Lostock Junction, which opened around August 1852. The station gave its name to the village which grew around it.^[3][4] This station had platforms on both the Preston and Wigan routes.^[5]

On 17 July 1920, four people were killed and 148 were injured in a near head-on collision between two Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway passenger trains at Lostock Junction due to a signal having erroneously been ignored at danger.^[6]

Lostock Junction Station closed on 7 November 1966^[4] as part of the programme of cuts initiated by the Beeching Report of 1963. However, on 16 May 1988 the station was reopened, but now with platforms only on the Preston route and renamed Lostock Parkway, a large car park for the use of park-and-ride commuters having been provided.^[4] The suffix "Parkway" was later dropped.^[7]

The two-platform station is served by two Northern services per hour southbound to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly and northbound to Preston and Blackpool North.^[8] It is a popular commuter station.^[9]

Saturday and Sunday services were replaced by buses most weekends from May 2015 until November 2018 due to the late-running electrification work on the route.^[10] Weekend services resumed on Sunday 11 November 2018 after the completion of the electrification engineering work.

Electric service commenced on Monday 11 February 2019, operated by Class 319 electric multiple units.^[11]

Sunday services are reduced to 1 train per hour, with 4 services on Sunday mornings terminating at Manchester Oxford Road. All services are operated using Class 331 electric units.

Before the December 2022 timetable change, services from Lostock were one train per hour in each direction, with only the Airport services stopping here. The amount of trains was increased from one to two trains per hour after the services were rerouted to both terminate at Manchester Airport.

Most recently in early 2009, the station has had a passenger information display system installed, giving waiting passengers on the platforms information about trains that are due to arrive. Fully computer automated, it is also equipped with an audio speaker system, giving the benefit of announcements of train arrivals and delays. During December 2008 - Spring 2009 the car park facilities were greatly improved by extending and resurfacing the land surrounding the railway, with the addition of floodlighting and CCTV. In April 2023, the stations information dot-matrix display screens were replaced.

The station has a ticket office, which is staffed from start of service until 19:35, six days per week (closed Sundays). A ticket vending machine is in place for purchase of tickets or promise to pay coupons when the ticket office is closed and for the collection of pre-paid tickets. Shelters are located on each platform and both have step-free access (via ramps northbound).^[12]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lostock railway station.

• Train times and station information for Lostock railway station from National Rail
• Local information

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Horwich Parkway		Northern Trains Manchester to Preston Line		Bolton
	Historical railways
Lostock Lane Line open, station closed		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Bolton and Preston Railway		Bolton Line and station open
Chew Moor Line open, station closed		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Liverpool and Bury Railway