The current railway station is a modern version from the 1980s that was built on top of the original station. The level of the old platforms can be seen under the existing station's two platforms which are connected by underpass. The initial station was opened on 22 December 1841 by the Bolton and Preston Railway and was subsequently served by the Lancashire Union Railway between St Helens, and from 1869. Passenger trains over this route were however withdrawn in January 1960. Further work was done in 2016 and 2017 in connection with the electrification of the line between Euxton Junction and Manchester. A level crossing at the south end of the station has been removed. The signal box has been moved to Ribble Steam Railway at Preston.
Current station facilities
Platform to platform connection is via a stepped subway. Wheelchair users may exit the station and use the sloped public footpath subway immediately to the south, this emerges at the foot of the Railway Pub, access is then via an entry off Friday Street. There are no toilets on the station and the nearest ones are in the bus station across the road. Chorley's rail services provide a link for the commuters of Lancashire to Preston, Manchester and Bolton. A chargeable railway car park is available to the south of the station. Ticket purchase & collection machines are available, one on Platform 2, and two in the ticket office. The ticket office is manned approximately 0630 - 1900. It was announced by the Department for Transport in December 2009, the line between Preston and Manchester, on which Chorley is situated, will be electrified which should reduce journey times to Manchester by up to ten minutes. Timetabled electric services began with the May 2019 timetable, training and introductory services had been running from February 2019.
From 26 July to 7 September 2008 the service provision to and from the station was limited due to major engineering work taking place to the north. A rail replacement bus service operated to and from Preston, whilst many trains were diverted via Wigan. This period of disruption was blamed for the decline in passenger usage shown in the figures right. The direct Scottish service had been reduced at the December 2013 timetable change when most trains were diverted via Wigan to join the newly electrified line over Chat Moss. A small number of peak services still operated via Chorley using Class 185 units thereafter, but these ceased at the December 2014 timetable change. First TransPennine Express used to run the service from Manchester Airport to Blackpool North but this was passed on to the new Northern franchise on 1 April 2016. 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
From June to October 2016, as part of the Manchester - Preston electrification scheme, the station has been renovated and the trackbed lowered slightly to accommodate the overhead wires. The subways roofs were also replaced, and both platforms have been rebuilt and extended to accommodate longer trains when the line opens to electric trains. During the rebuild, a temporary platform 1 was installed south of the former level crossing with access from the car park and no passenger trains called at weekends. The badly delayed electrification work on the route has seen further timetable alterations and rail replacement buses at weekends since the May 2018 timetable change. Some northbound trains now terminate at either Buckshaw Parkway or Preston instead of running through to Blackpool, whilst weekend engineering possessions saw buses replacing trains until November 2018. Electric service commenced on 11 February 2019 utilising Class 319electric multiple units. The first electric running was a Virgin Pendolino on a test run during the night of 13 December 2018
