Lower Ince railway station

Lower Ince
The site of the station in 2011
General information
Location	Wigan, Wigan England
Coordinates	53°32′15″N 2°36′52″W / 53.5376°N 2.6145°W / 53.5376; -2.6145
Grid reference	SD59370473
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Wigan Junction Railways
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 April 1884 (1884-04-01)	Station opened
2 November 1964	Station closed completely[1]

Lower Ince railway station was a railway station in southern Wigan, Lancashire, England.

v t e GCR lines to St Helens and Wigan
Legend
Wigan Central Wigan Darlington Street Springs Branch Manchester–Southport line Ince Lower Ince Wigan avoiding line to Pemberton Hindley to Springs Branch Junction Manchester–Southport line Lancashire Union Railway Lancashire Union Railway "The Whelley Loop" Strangeways West Junction Hindley South Strangeways East Junction Platt Bridge Manchester and Wigan Railway St Helens Central (GCR) St Helens Central Liverpool–Wigan line Haydock Haydock Colliery Tunnel Bickershaw and Abram Ashton-in-Makerfield Haydock Park Park Lane Halt Golborne South West Coast Main Line Golborne North West Leigh and Bedford Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway Wigan Junction Railways Lowton St Mary's Junction Lowton St Mary's Chat Moss line Kenyon Junction Culcheth Newchurch Halt Liverpool–Manchester lines Glazebrook

Lower Ince station was in a cutting on the south side of Ince Green Lane,^[2][3] a short distance from the LYR's rival station, Ince.^[4]

The station was on the Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) line from Glazebrook West Junction to Wigan.^[5][6] The WJR was part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later to become the Great Central) and opened on 1 April 1884, with other stations along the line.

Lower Ince Engine Shed stood north west of the station.^[7] It closed on 26 March 1952.^[8]

The service patterns in 1895, 1947 and 1962 are fully documented in the authoritative Disused Stations website.^[9]

In April 1884 the service pattern was straightforward. Six "Down" (towards Wigan) trains called from Manchester Central. In addition, one "express" called at Glazebrook only and passed Lower Ince without stopping. Of the six, three called at all stations, the remaining three missed some stations between Manchester and Glazebrook. With the exception of the "express" all trains called at all stations between Glazebrook and Wigan. The "Up" service was similar.^[10]

In 1922 six "Down" trains called, All Stations from Manchester Central on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays), with a further evening train from Lowton St Mary's only. Three other trains called, apparently All Stations from Culcheth, but it is possible they originated from Liverpool Central or Warrington Central and turned west to north at Glazebrook West Junction. One of these trains ran on Fridays and Saturdays Only and the other two ran on Saturdays Only. The "Up" service was broadly similar, but the mix of Saturday Only trains was even more complicated. There was no Sunday service.^[11]

According to Beeching's Reshaping of British Railways the line was more heavily used than many which did not close, however, as with many unmodernised and heavily used commuter lines it was deemed uneconomic. The line's main passenger traffic was workers travelling from the Wigan area to industrial plants in Cadishead and Partington and around the docks in Salford and Manchester; until the late 1970s the Lancashire United bus company operated a replacement bus service from Wigan to Partington.

The station closed completely on 2 November 1964 and has been demolished.

• List of closed railway stations in Britain
• Wigan North Western railway station
• Wigan Wallgate railway station
• Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway
• Old railway lines in Wigan

• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC 655324061.
• Fields, N; Gilbert, A C; Knight, N R (1980), Liverpool to Manchester into the Second Century, Manchester Transport Museum Society, ISBN 978-0-900857-19-5
• Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012), Railway Atlas Then and Now, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7110-3695-6
• Sweeney, Dennis (2013). The Wigan Junction Railways. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9550030-5-9.

• "The station's history". Disused Stations UK.
• "The station's services". Disused Stations UK.
• "The station on a 1948 OS Map". npe maps.
• "The station on an 1888-1913 OS map with overlays". National Library of Scotland.
• "Station and line overlain on many maps". Rail Map Online.
• "The line and mileages". Railway Codes.