Appley Bridge railway station serves the villages of Appley Bridge and Shevington, both in Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester in England. The station is 4.4 miles (7 km) north-west of Wigan Wallgate on the Manchester-Southport Line. The station is in Lancashire, but it is supported by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and as such within the TfGM ticketing zone. It is operated by Northern Trains.
Appley Bridge ![]() | |
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![]() Appley Bridge station in 2015, with a Northern Rail Class 150 at the Southport-bound platform, seen from the Appley Lane North road bridge. | |
General information | |
Location | Appley Bridge, West Lancashire England |
Grid reference | SD524093 |
Managed by | Northern Trains |
Transit authority | Greater Manchester |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Station code | APB |
Classification | DfT category F1 |
Key dates | |
9 April 1855 | Station opens |
Passengers | |
2016/17 | ![]() |
2017/18 | ![]() |
2018/19 | ![]() |
2019/20 | ![]() |
2020/21 | ![]() |
Location | |
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Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
The main stone-built station building survives adjacent to the Wigan-bound platform, but is now a public house; there are modest shelters on both platforms for rail travellers.
The station was built by the Manchester and Southport Railway and opened on 9 April 1855. From January 1885 it was part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The main stone-built station building (no longer in use) was built during that time, in the standard L&YR style. The L&YR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922, and this, in turn, was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948. When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail.
A Greater Manchester Council landfill site and transfer terminal was formerly located a short distance west of the station, served by a siding connection from the up (eastbound) line. This received regular trainloads of domestic waste from terminals in and around Manchester from the early 1980s until 1995, when the site reached capacity and was closed. The defunct siding is still intact and is visible from passing trains.
The station is unmanned, but there is a ticket machine provided to allow passengers to buy prior to travel or collect pre-paid tickets. Train running information can be obtained by phone and timetable posters. There is step-free access to both platforms from the nearby road bridge via ramps.[1]
On Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are two trains an hour westbound to Southport and eastbound to Wigan. Beyond here, services run via Bolton alternately to Stalybridge via Manchester Victoria and to Stockport and Alderley Edge via Manchester Piccadilly. Only a limited number now run via Atherton, mainly at peak times and late evenings (travellers to these destinations and for stations along the Calder Valley line now need to change at Wigan).[2]
On Sundays, there is an hourly service to Southport and Blackburn via Manchester Victoria.
Preceding station | ![]() |
Following station | ||
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Parbold | Northern Trains Manchester-Southport Line or Manchester Airport-Southport |
Gathurst | ||
Wigan Wallgate |
Railway stations in Lancashire | |
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West Coast Main Line |
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Kirkby branch line | |
Manchester–Southport line |
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Merseyrail Northern line |
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Ormskirk branch line |
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Blackpool branch lines |
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Manchester–Preston line |
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Ribble Valley line | |
East Lancashire line |
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Calder Valley line | |
Leeds–Morecambe line |
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Furness line |
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Heritage railways |
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