Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains, which provides services along with Avanti West Coast. It is on the Blackpool North line, between Layton and Kirkham & Wesham, 14 miles 31 chains (23.2 km) from Preston.[2]
Poulton-le-Fylde  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The station building in 2023 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Poulton-le-Fylde, Wyre, England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°50′54″N 2°59′26″W / 53.8484°N 2.9906°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SD349395 | ||||
| Managed by | Northern Trains | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | PFY[1] | ||||
| Classification | DfT category E | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 15 July 1840 | Original station opened | ||||
| 1896 | New station on realigned route | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  0.106 million | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.425 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.510 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.583 million | ||||
| 2024/25 | 0.630 million | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
History
edit
The original station was sited about 400 yards (400 m) north-east of the current location, at "The Breck".[3][4] The railway to the fishing town of Fleetwood, via Burn Naze, 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.[5][6] In 1896, the tracks were realigned to follow a much gentler westward curve to Blackpool, with the new station halfway along the curve.[7] 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.[8]
Passenger services to Fleetwood were withdrawn by British Rail in 1966, and thence services to Wyre Dock on 1 June 1970 during railway restructuring.[9] The line is still extant, albeit overgrown and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.[10] Since June 2006, there have been plans by Poulton & Wyre Railway Society to restore and preserve the passenger rail link towards Fleetwood, via Thornton & Cleveleys, as a heritage railway.[11]
Modernisation
editThe modernisation and electrification of the Preston to Blackpool North line, and hence Poulton-le-Fylde station, was announced in December 2009.[12] 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.[13] This resulted in a total blockade of the line from 11 November 2017 until 25 March 2018, but was extended subsequently to 16 April 2018 due to bad weather.[14]
Facilities
editThe station has a ticket office at street level, which is staffed throughout the week. 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 automated announcements and digital display screens. Step-free access is available via lifts from the entrance to the platform when the ticket office is staffed.[15]
Passenger volume
edit| 2002–03 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 245,880 | 300,947 | 321,082 | 339,292 | 365,130 | 383,850 | 391,840 | 417,558 | 449,680 | 458,918 | 481,862 | 509,612 | 526,174 | 550,292 | 423,220 | 433,190 | 547,252 | 105,762 | 425,336 | 509,880 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
edit
The station is served by Northern Trains and Avanti West Coast. As of May 2025, the following general service pattern is provided in trains per hour/week:[17][18]
Northern Trains
edit- 4 tph to Blackpool North, of which 1 tph calls at Layton
- 2 tph to Manchester Airport, via Preston, Bolton and Manchester Piccadilly (1tph on Sundays)
- 1 tph to Liverpool Lime Street, via Preston, Wigan North Western and St Helens Central
- 1 tph to York, via Preston, Bradford Interchange and Leeds.
Avanti West Coast
edit- 1tpw (Sundays) to Preston.
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. In 2024, it was announced that the route was set to return.[19]
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avanti West Coast Limited service | ||||
| Northern Trains | ||||
| Northern Trains | ||||
Sunday only |
||||
| Northern Trains | Monday to Saturday |
|||
| 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 | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ↑ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. pp. .page. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
- ↑ Mitchell & Hartley, p.59
- ↑ "Historical images of Poulton-le-Fylde take you back to a long lost era". Blackpool Gazette. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ↑ Welch, p.27
- ↑ Suggitt, p.38
- ↑ Quick 2023, p. 377.
- ↑ Suggitt, pp.37–38
- ↑ Suggitt, G (2004) [2003]. Lost Railways of Lancashire. Newbury: Countryside Books. p. 41. ISBN 1-85306-801-2.
- ↑ "Passengers and neighbours thanked as weekend work in Poulton is completed on time" VolkerRail press release 6 April 2017; Retrieved 23 May 2017
- ↑ "£30,000 feasibility study for Poulton to Fleetwood line could go ahead" (PDF). Railway Herald. No. 239. 20 September 2010. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
- ↑ "Railway lines to be electrified". 14 December 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ↑ "Network Rail confirms Blackpool electrification plans | Railnews | Today's news for Tomorrow's railway". www.railnews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ↑ "Blackpool to Preston route to reopen after major 5-month transformation". Rail Technology Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ↑ "Poulton-le-Fylde Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ↑ "Train Timetables". Northernrailway.co.uk. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ↑ "Our latest timetables and ticket info". Avanti West Coast. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ↑ "DalesRail service over the Settle to Carlisle line set to return as HS2 cash is re-routed" – The Yorkshire Post
Bibliography
edit- Mitchell, L. & Hartley, S. (2005) "Lancashire Historic Town Survey—Poulton-le-Fylde" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2011. (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
- Quick, Michael (2023). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.
- Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1-870754-61-1
External links
edit
- 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.