Acton Bridge railway station serves the nearby village of Acton Bridge, Cheshire, in the northwest of England. It is situated on the West Coast Main Line between Hartford and Warrington, and also sees trains between Liverpool and Birmingham.

Acton Bridge
General information
Location	Acton Bridge, Borough of Cheshire West and Chester England
Coordinates	53.2664°N 2.6029°W / 53.2664; -2.6029
Grid reference	SJ598745
Managed by	London Northwestern Railway
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	ACB
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
4 July 1837	Station opens as Acton
1 July 1870	Station renamed Acton Bridge
Passengers
2016/17	20,092
2017/18	21,058
2018/19	22,578
2019/20	27,976
2020/21	8,482
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Acton Bridge opened as Acton by the Grand Junction Railway in 1837,[1]^: 58 but was renamed Acton Bridge in 1870. After merging into the London and North Western Railway, the company became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923.

The line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways upon nationalisation in 1948. In addition to its main line calls, the station also served as the terminus of a local service from Crewe via Sandbach and Northwich until 1942. This used a connecting curve that diverged from the main line just north of Hartford to join the Cheshire Lines Committee line from Altrincham to Chester Northgate near Greenbank, which remains in use, but for freight traffic only.

When sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail. Trains of the Intercity Sector passed on the West Coast Main Line.

When British Rail was privatised Acton Bridge was served by Central Trains until 2007, then served by London Midland until 2017, before passing most recently onto London Northwestern.

Facilities

Acton Bridge is un-staffed, although tickets can be purchased from a self-service ticket machine, which is connected to the national network, located inside the booking hall. There is no wheelchair access, as all platforms can only be accessed by steps from the footbridge. The station has limited bus connections, and a small car park which can hold around 25 vehicles.

The station, and its gardens, are maintained by volunteers from Acton Bridge Women's Institute, and won a Commendation in the 2003 JPD 'Best Kept Station' competition.

Services

Acton Bridge has two trains per hour in weekday peak hours, reducing to one every two hours outside the peaks, all opedates by London Northwestern trains running between Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street. These services start later on Sundays and run at reduced timetable. Most trains, particularly northbound, use the centre platforms on the main line, but when a train is delayed or there is disruption, some southbound services may use the relief line platform instead.[2]

Just south of the station, the line goes from double track to four lines, with two being not only relief lines but also providing connections onto the Chester to Manchester line via Greenbank and Northwich. This link is used primarily by freight, although it could be used as an additional link between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hartford		London Northwestern Railway West Coast Main Line		Runcorn
	Historical railways
Hartford		London and North Western Railway Grand Junction Railway		Preston Brook

References

• 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.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Station on navigable O.S. map

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Acton Bridge railway station.

• Train times and station information for Acton Bridge railway station from National Rail