Preston railway station serves the city of Preston, in Lancashire, England. It is an interchange on the West Coast Main Line, which lies approximately half-way between and . Inter-city trains to London Euston, , , , Glasgow Central and are provided by Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and Caledonian Sleeper; Northern Trains operates local services to Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Yorkshire and other parts of Lancashire.
The North Union Railway opened a station on the site in 1838. It was extended in 1850, with new platforms under the separate management of the East Lancashire Railway; by 1863, London-Scotland trains stopped here to allow passengers to eat in the station dining room. The current station was built in 1880; it was extended in 1903 and 1913, when it had 15 platforms. A free buffet for servicemen was provided during both World Wars. The East Lancashire platforms were demolished in the 1970s, following closure of some connecting lines.
History
In its coaching days, Preston was an important centre for both passenger and postal traffic. This importance continued into the railway age, both as a major junction and as a stopping point about halfway between London and Glasgow.Lawrence, p.136
Preston's railways The first railway lines in Preston were those of the Lancaster Canal Tramroad, a horse-drawn line connecting two parts of the Lancaster Canal. It opened in 1805, but never carried passengers and never converted to steam. It ceased operating in Preston in 1862.Greville & Holt 1, pp.97–98
The first steam-hauled passenger railway in Preston was the North Union Railway (NUR). On 31 October 1838, it opened its line from Wigan to a site on the present-day Preston station.Greville & Holt 1, p.95 This immediately linked the town to the cities of London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
Each subsequent line was built by a different company. Rivalry often prevented any co-operation over shared facilities, and so almost every railway line into Preston used its own station. It was not until 1900 that all lines in Preston shared a single station, by which time all the companies had been taken over by one or both of just two companies.
The second passenger railway into Preston was the Preston and Longridge Railway, which opened as another horse-drawn tramway on 1 May 1840, to a terminus in .Greville & Holt 2, p.198 It converted to steam in 1848, but did not run its trains into the North Union station until 1885.Greville & Holt 2, pp.200–201
The Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway (L&PJR) was the third line, which opened on 25 June 1840,Greville & Holt 1, p.96 initially using the North Union station. However, relations between the and soured; from 1 January 1842, most trains used instead, a short distance to the north of the North Union station. A few trains passed through, but the charged a toll of 6d per passenger. Most passengers refused to pay, preferring to alight at Maxwell House and walk the to the North Union station, but the refused to hold the train to allow passengers to walk and rebook. The advised northbound passengers to travel by the Lancaster Canal rather than the . On 1 January 1844, Maxwell House station came into the possession of the , and lack of agreement led to several weeks when hapless passengers had to alight on the trackside at nearby Dock Street (off Pitt Street). Lancaster trains were able to use the North Union station from 12 February.Greville & Holt 1, p.99
Preston's fourth railway was the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway to Fleetwood, opening, just a few weeks after the , on 16 July 1840, to its own terminus at in Leighton Street. After 12 February 1844, regular Preston and Wyre trains used the North Union station, along with the , although Maudlands continued to be used for excursions for some decades.
The fifth company to run trains into Preston was the Bolton and Preston Railway (BPR), from 22 June 1843. Its line joined the North Union's at Euxton Junction, south of Preston, but the company used Maxwell House instead of the North Union's. However, the charged 1s per passenger to trains over its tracks, and eventually the resorted to ferrying its passengers by road between Euxton and Preston. The was driven into submission and was taken over by the from 1 January 1844.
The sixth line into Preston was that of the Preston and Blackburn Railway, which opened on 1 June 1846, joining the North Union line immediately south of Farrington station (respelt Farington from October 1857). The railway company was absorbed into the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) on 3 August 1846.Greville & Holt 1, pp.99–100 Once again, the charged high tolls for the use of its line which led the to build its own line into Preston. The line was initially opposed by Preston Corporation, but was eventually permitted on condition that the embankment north of the Ribble (which later became the dividing line between Avenham and Miller Parks) be ornamentally laid out, and that a pedestrian path (still in use today) be provided on the river bridge. The line ran into new platforms built on the east side of the North Union station, which were managed and staffed by the , and which had their own booking hall and entrance in Butler Street. The new platforms were effectively a separate station.Greville & Holt 1, p.101Suggitt, p.59 The new line and station opened on 2 September 1850.Greville & Holt 2, p.197
The seventh line in Preston was the North Union's own Victoria Quay Branch to Victoria Quay on the river Ribble (later extended to Preston Docks in 1882 and which now connects to the heritage Ribble Steam Railway).Greville & Holt 2, p.203 The single-track goods line opened in October 1846 from a south-facing junction immediately south of Preston Station, through a tight curve into a tunnel with a gradient of 1 in 29, emerging north of Fishergate Hill near the riverside.Greville & Holt 1, p.100
The eighth line to Preston was the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway, owned by the and connected to its Blackburn line into Preston. It opened on 2 April 1849. From 1891, its trains used a new curve at Farington to enter the town via the North Union line.
The ninth and final line into Preston was the West Lancashire Railway (WLR) from Southport. The railway arrived in Preston on 16 September 1882, by which time all the town's other lines were owned by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) or the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), or jointly by both. The independent built its own Fishergate Hill station. It also built a connecting line to the former (then ) line, via which the majority of Southport-to-Preston trains continued to . The railway was not a success, and on 1 July 1897 it was taken over by the . This resulted in the diversion of all passenger services to use the East Lancashire platforms at Preston from 16 July 1900.Greville & Holt 2, pp.201–202
The network of lines south of Preston allowed great flexibility in the routing of trains. A train approaching the town on any of the lines from the south (except the from Southport) could be routed to enter the station via either the North Union or the East Lancashire line. It was even possible for trains from the north to perform an effective U-turn, a feat sometimes carried out by trains between Scotland and Blackpool that would otherwise have had to reverse.
Development
When the station was first opened in 1838 by the North Union Railway, the line north of the station passed through a tunnel under the west end of Fishergate (then Preston's major thoroughfare). It was on a slope so steep that sometimes station staff had to push trains out of the station.
By 1846, the station was already very busy, handling trains from Wigan and the south, Bolton, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Lancaster and the north, and Blackburn. There were no footbridges; passengers had to cross the lines escorted by station staff.Greville & Holt 3, pp.274-275 North of the station was a network of goods lines around the end of the Lancaster Canal. The coal yards and sidings here continued to operate long after the canal had fallen into commercial disuse.
The station's first expansion came in 1850 when the new East Lancashire line used new platforms staffed and managed by the East Lancashire Railway, with their own entrance and booking office in Butler Street. From 1863, trains between London and Scotland, having no dining cars, were scheduled to allow 20 minutes at Preston for passengers to eat in the station's dining room.Greville & Holt 3, p.277 The pressure on catering staff was increased when northbound and southbound trains would often arrive about the same time.Lawrence, p.142 The condition of the station deteriorated to the extent that on 18 August 1866 part of the roof on the East Lancashire side collapsed injuring three people, one seriously. By then, 150 trains a day passed through the station.
Eventually the station was rebuilt, at a cost of , reopening in July 1880, and with seven through platforms and four bay platforms. At this time, both the Ribble bridge and the line as far as Euxton, were widened from two tracks to four.Greville & Holt 3, p.276Gairns, p.337 A striking feature of the new station was its long and wide central island platform, long and wide. It was larger than any of the London terminal station platforms; the longest being at . Along the centre of the platform were refreshment rooms, offices and waiting rooms. A booking hall at the north end of the station was accessed from the middle of a new bridge carrying Fishergate over the railway. A broad ramp led down to the main island platform, with footbridges to smaller platforms on either side. Further south, the platforms were also linked by a passenger subway and a separate subway for luggage, accessed via hoists.Lawrence, p.139 At the south end of the main platform, a footbridge led to the nearby Park Hotel, a joint / property, opened in 1883.Gairns, p.342Suggitt, p.63
On 30 January 1877, a heavy storm blew the roof completely away from the station, A more serious accident occurred on 13 July 1896, when a London to Glasgow train passed through the station at an estimated , despite a speed limit. It was derailed on a tight curve at the north end of the station, killing one person.Lawrence, p.140 As a result of this, the tracks were realigned. Charles Street, to the west of the station, was demolished, as were more houses north-west of the station. Fishergate bridge was extended on its west side. This allowed more tracks and platforms to be built on the west side of the station, with gentler curves. The Ribble bridge was widened again, from four to six tracks. These enlargements were completed by 1903.Lawrence, p.141 The east side of the station was also extended in 1913.Rush, p.7
By 1926, the lines and platforms were used as follows, from west to east: South-west of the station was Christian Road goods station (previously known as Charles Street goods station before 1903). Next was the single-track goods line that curved west to enter the tunnel to the docks. North of the tunnel was a goods loading platform, added in 1903. Then were two through lines for non-stop traffic, added in 1903. Platforms 1 and 2 formed a large island platform, added in 1903, with station buildings, handling through traffic to and from Blackpool. Platform 2 was also used as a terminal platform for trains and as a reversal platform for trains between and Blackpool. Between platforms 2 and 3 was a centre line, used as a run-around loop. Platforms 3 and 4 formed a narrow island platform without buildings. Platform 3 was used for terminal and reversal trains, as platform 2. Platform 4 was a loop for platform 5.