Hindleyrailway station serves the area of Hindley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, England. Hindley is one of the principal stations that lie on the Wigan to Manchester line, just before the route branches to use either the Atherton line or the Eastern Branch line via Westhoughton and Bolton. The station is located west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Trains services to these towns as well as Salford, Swinton and Walkden, with onward trains to Kirkby and Southport. Hindley is one of the nearest stations to Aspull, although there is no direct bus link, the 559 bus having been withdrawn between Hindley and Aspull. The station is situated some distance from the centre of the town. Figures showed that usage increased year-on year by 9%, with a further healthy increase for 2007/8, which continues. Interchange passengers amounted to around 13,000 further passengers annually. Figures demonstrate that usage more than doubled from 2004 to 2011, with a further 17% increase from 2011 to 2012,and 13% from 2012 to 2013.
History
This station was opened on 20 November 1848 and was originally named Hindley. It was renamed Hindley North on 1 July 1950 to differentiate it from Hindley South stationon the line from Wigan Central to Glazebrook. Hindley South closed inNovember 1964, and Hindley North was renamed Hindley on 6 May 1968. There were also stations serving Hindley at Platt Bridge and at Hindley Green on the line from Wigan North Western to Manchester Exchange, the residual "fast local" and express passenger service ceasing on 1 January 1968. At Hindley there are now two platforms in use, with the overgrown remains of two further platforms
Facilities
The car park has been enlarged but passenger numbers have increased so that it is probably in need of further enlargement. The station is manned on a part-time basis, with the booking office open from the start of service until early afternoon. Outside these hours, tickets must be bought in advance or on the train. The station is not accessible for disabled travellers and has passenger information screens on each platform, along with an automated public address system to offer train running details.
Friends of Hindley Station
There is now a "Friends of Hindley Station" group, formed in 2007, whose aim is to promote the use of the station by improvements. The group have had several weekend clearing sessions. During one such session a large nameplaque made of stones on the station banking was uncovered. The results objectively can be considered spectacular, evidenced by the number of "in bloom" and landscaping awards won. Also, partially as a result of their input, there was a direct link to Manchester Airport from December 2008. This ended at the May 2018 timetable change and intending travellers now have to change at Manchester Piccadilly or Salford Crescent to reach the airport.
Services
There are three trains per hour to Manchester Victoria during Monday to Saturday daytimes - two via Atherton and one via Bolton. Some of them continue onward to and then either or, whilst there is one train each hour to Manchester Piccadilly and via Bolton. Most Leeds-bound trains run through without calling. In the opposite direction there are four trains each hour to Wigan, with an hourly service to Kirkby and two per hour to Southport via Wallgate and one that terminates at. During the evenings there are two services to Manchester and to Wigan, of which one extends to Southport. From December 2019, most services to Wigan will run via or terminate at Wallgate, with just a few early morning and evening trains to North Western. Services to/from Southport will run predominantly via Bolton, save for a small number of peak and late evening workings via Atherton. On Sundays there are two trains each hour to Manchester Victoria via Atherton and two trains per hour to Wigan. Weekend services via Bolton were suspended and replaced by buses due to the ongoing work to electrify the Manchester to Preston Line until the end of 2018, but have now resumed. These operate to Wigan N.W and Victoria once per hour.
