The station was opened on 4 February 1841 as Horwich Road by the Manchester and Bolton Railway. It was renamed Horwich and Blackrod, then Horwich Junction then Horwich and Blackrod junction, and finally Blackrod in 1888 Blackrod was once the junction for a short branch to serve the original Horwich station and Horwich Locomotive Works. Until the 1980s, Blackrod had a poor frequency of service, but for many years it has been a popular commuter station.
Technical Railway Information
The station had until recently a signal box, the only one on the entire Manchester to Preston route. This had outlasted the others as it acted as the 'fringe' to both the Manchester Piccadilly signalling centre and Preston PSB. The train description system used in the Preston installation was incompatible with that installed at Piccadilly so the signaller at Blackrod had to transfer train data manually from one system to the other as each one passed through his/her control area. A similar situation existed at on the Bolton to Blackburn line, where the two control areas also overlap. Network Rail announced in May 2012 that the box was due to be abolished in January 2013, with control passing to the Piccadilly signalling centre. This is part of a programme of signalling renewals associated with the planned electrification of the Manchester to Preston line. The box was duly decommissioned on 10 February 2013 and subsequently demolished.
2012 Refurbishment
Over one million pounds' worth of improvements to the station were completed in November 2012.
Services
There is currently an hourly daytime service to Manchester Victoria southbound and to northbound. Through services to northbound and to Manchester Piccadilly and beyond call only at peak periods and in the evenings, when the Manchester Victoria service doesn't operate. On Sundays, there is an hourly all-day service to Blackpool and Manchester Victoria. 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. Weekend services resumed on Sunday 11 November 2018 after the completion of the electrification engineering work.
Renovation and Electrification
It was announced by the Department for Transport in December 2009, the line between Preston and Manchester, on which the station is situated, will be electrified which should reduce journey times to Manchester by up to ten minutes. There have been many delays but completion is expected before December 2018. Electric service commenced on 11 February 2019, initially utilising Class 319electric multiple units.
Post electrification services
A new timetable will be introduced in May 2019 which will feature new electric trains and shorter journey times; daytime services will run hourly between Preston and Manchester Victoria with evening and additional peak services running between Blackpool North and Manchester Piccadilly and onwards to Manchester Airport or Hazel Grove; all services will utilise Class 319 electric multiple units. From December 2019, services between Blackpool North and Manchester Piccadilly and onwards to Manchester Airport or Hazel Grove and most Sunday services utilise Class 331 electric multiple units. Saturday services will be similar to weekday services with all evening services after 22:00 extending to Manchester Airport. Sunday services will extend to Blackpool North with some early morning and late night services running to/from Manchester Airport.
