Leyland railway station

Leyland railway station serves the town of Leyland in Lancashire, England. It was formerly "Golden Hill", the name of the street and area in which the station is based, but was renamed Leyland soon after opening. The original station was built in 1838, with two platforms.

Leyland
Leyland railway station platforms 1 and 2 in 2007
General information
Location	Leyland, South Ribble England
Coordinates	53.699°N 2.687°W / 53.699; -2.687
Grid reference	SD547227
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	LEY
Classification	DfT category D
History
Original company	North Union Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
31 October 1838	Opened as Golden Hill[1]
1838	Renamed Leyland[1]
Passengers
2019/20	0.401 million
2020/21	95,220
2021/22	0.312 million
2022/23	0.333 million
2023/24	0.394 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Station

The station is located on the West Coast Main Line just south of Preston, and is the approximate halfway point between Glasgow and London, some 198 miles in either direction, with a placard on Leyland Trucks' Spurrier works stating this fact.

The station is currently a four-platform hub, with a part-time ticket office (staffed 06:45-17:45 Mondays to Saturdays and 08:15-15:45 Sundays).^[2] In 2011 new digital display screens were installed as well as an automated ticket machine and a new ticket office was built in 2014; A new pedestrian footbridge with lifts was built in 2016 bringing step-free access to all four platforms^[3] and an automated PA system was installed in 2018.

Former franchise holder First North Western ran Euston services from Blackpool which called at Leyland in the late 1990s but these were soon discontinued. Leyland station is now very much a commuter station from and to Preston, with links to Chorley, Wigan, Liverpool (after years of no "Southbound" services towards Wigan a 'local' service was resumed in 1988) and Manchester, with no long distance main line services calling at the station.

The station at Farington, Farington railway station was closed before the Beeching Plan of the 1960s and no direct trains run to Lostock Hall.

Six-carriage (coupled 3-car) Class 331 units run on most services to/from Manchester and some services to/from Liverpool. The platforms are currently too short to open all doors at Leyland, and only the front four carriages will open. Works were undertaken in 2023 and 2024 to extend the platforms to allow all doors to open, and as of December 15th 2024, six-carriage services operate fully at the station.

Services

The station is served exclusively by Northern Trains trains from Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport to Blackpool North.^[4]

As of December 2022, there are 2 express trains per hour southbound to Manchester Airport via Chorley and Manchester Piccadilly, and 1 train per hour semi-fast to Liverpool Lime Street. All trains northbound terminate at Blackpool North. On Sundays, 1 train per hour runs on both routes. The Sunday service to Liverpool Lime Street becomes a stopping service and calls at most intermediate stations between Blackpool North and Liverpool Lime Street.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  The station in 1963