Bescar Lane railway station

Bescar Lane National Rail
Location
Place Scarisbrick
Local authority West Lancashire
Grid reference SD396145
Operations
Station code BES
Managed by Northern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Decrease 3,684
2011/12 Decrease 3,514
2012/13 Increase 3,982
2013/14 Decrease 3,146
2014/15 Decrease 2,934
History
Key dates Opened 9 April 1855 (9 April 1855)
Original company Manchester and Southport Railway
Pre-grouping Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bescar Lane from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

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 the Northern franchise. Its remote location, some distance from the centre of Scarisbrick Parish, is considered "problematical".[1]

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 en route to Southport through Blowick and St Luke's closed in 1965 (as part of the Beeching Axe), forcing 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.

Bescar Lane railway station in 1966.

Services

Monday to Saturdays there is generally a two-hourly service to Southport westbound and Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate and Atherton eastbound; a number of morning and evening peak Southport - Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly services also call.[3]

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

  1. Village History, Scarisbrick.org.uk. Retrieved on 29 May 2008.
  2. Gell, Rob (1986). An Illustrated Survey of Railway Stations Between Southport & Liverpool 1848-1986. Heyday Publishing Company, ISBN 0-947562-04-4.
  3. Great Britain eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 82

External links

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Meols Cop   Northern
Manchester-Southport Line
  New Lane

Coordinates: 53°37′26″N 2°54′54″W / 53.624°N 2.915°W / 53.624; -2.915

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