New £2.3m railway station opens in Burnley

Burnley’s new £2.3 million Manchester Road railway station opened its doors to its first passengers this morning (Monday, 17th November).

The regenerated station features a staffed ticket and information office in a modern eye-catching building, a larger car park, CCTV, a real time passenger information system and new passenger waiting shelters. The station also includes a facility for the East Lancashire Community Rail partnership.

Burnley Council leader Mark Townsend said: “I’m sure train passengers using Manchester Road will be delighted with the new station building.

“Improving Burnley’s transport links is vital to our borough’s future prosperity and this is a key step in achieving that. With the direct rail service to Manchester coming next spring this station is only to get busier and busier.

“First impressions are important and it’s great that anyone using Manchester Road station will be greeted by a modern, eye-catching building that reflects our drive to create a transformed town that is going places.”

The contract to build the new station was tendered and awarded to Lancashire construction company Walter Carefoot & Sons, with engineering and architectural support provided by Hyder and Strzala.

The redevelopment of Manchester Road station is a top priority for Burnley, crucial to transforming the borough’s economic prospects, and is just one of the major regeneration projects underway to develop new infrastructure to support the economic growth of the town.

The station was developed following partnership work with Lancashire County Council; the Citizens' Rail EU Interreg IVB project; the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership, Northern Rail and Network Rail in advance of the re-instatement of the Todmorden Curve, which will allow direct services to Manchester in less than 1 hour. These improvements are likely to see a strong increase in passenger numbers at the station, which is already Burnley’s busiest station.

Craig Harrop, client and stakeholder manager for Northern Rail, said: “We’re delighted to add the brand new facilities at Manchester Road to our portfolio in Lancashire. The positive working relationship between ourselves and Lancashire County Council and Burnley Council allowed us to overcome initial challenges together and has produced a successful and collaborative project which will benefit thousands of our customers.”

County Councillor John Fillis, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "The new Manchester Road station ! provides modern, spacious, facilities which signal that a more prosperous time for Burnley is on the way with people soon able to travel to Manchester in under an hour thanks to the restored Todmorden Curve.

"Good transport infrastructure lays the foundations for economic growth and the new station is one of a number of projects which the county council is supporting to attract new jobs and investment in Burnley and the surrounding area."

Richard Burningham, manager of the Citizens’ Rail project, said: “This is a fantastic facility. Not only will it make a huge difference to existing passengers, but the building also has its own community room – which will help Community Rail Lancashire to continue their excellent work to engage and inspire school children and other groups to become the next generation of rail users.”

The station was originally built in the current location at Manchester Road in 1886. This station was, in turn, closed on 6 November 1961 and subsequently re-opened on 29 September 1986. By the time it was re-opened, the station building, had been sold out of railway use for use as a dairy storage and distribution facility.

The site was purchased by Burnley Council and Lancashire County Council in November 2011 with the aim of bringing the building back into rail use. Additional funding was secured from the ERDF Interreg IVB programme following a submission by Lancashire County Council.
For further information please contact: Mike Warren on 01772 533537
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