Bescar Lane railway station is on the Manchester to Southport Line, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of Southport in the village of Scarisbrick. Bescar Lane is an old cottage-style station, operated by Northern Trains. Its remote location, some distance from the centre of Scarisbrick Parish, is considered "problematical".[1]

Bescar Lane
General information
Location	Scarisbrick, West Lancashire England
Grid reference	SD396145
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BES
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	9 April 1855
Original company	Manchester and Southport Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Passengers
2016/17	3,988
2017/18	3,766
2018/19	2,124
2019/20	2,364
2020/21	572
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Bescar Lane station was built by the Manchester and Southport Railway and opened on 9 April 1855, and from January 1885 was part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The station had the distinction of being the lowest station on that network, situated 12.5 feet (3.8 m) above sea-level. The L&YR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948. Part of the line running from Bescar Lane directly to Southport through Blowick and St Luke's closed in 1965, in order to enable the closure of the level crossing on a busy road at Blowick, causing trains to divert through Meols Cop on a section of the old Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway.[2] When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Rail.

The station's level crossing was controlled by a signal box until the early 1990s,[3] but this was closed and demolished after automatic barriers were installed and the fixed signals removed. The platform layout has also been altered, with the westbound platform moved to the opposite side of the crossing - previously both platforms were sited on the eastern side (the redundant one can still be seen).[4]

Facilities

The station is unmanned and has no ticket machine, so all tickets must be purchased in advance or on the train. There are shelters on each platform, but no other permanent buildings. Train running information can be obtained from timetable posters or by telephone. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[5]

Services

Monday to Saturdays there is generally a two-hourly service to Southport westbound and Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate and Bolton eastbound.[6] Most of these continue to Stalybridge.

The last service to Southport is at 21:29 and the last service towards Wigan Wallgate and Manchester stations is at 22:28. There is no Sunday service, though a normal service operates on most Bank Holidays.

References

External links

• Media related to Bescar Lane railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Bescar Lane Station Information at Northern Railway.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Meols Cop		Northern Trains Manchester-Southport Line		New Lane
	Disused railways
Blowick Line and station closed		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Manchester and Southport Railway		New Lane Line and station open