Passenger services on the line improved dramatically after 1850 when the inclined planes were reduced. Journey times between St Helens and Widnes reduced to only 25 minutes. It was following these developments that intermediate stations such as Farnworth & Bold were opened..
The December 1895 timetable showed Farnworth & Bold as having nine up and eight down trains on Monday-to-Friday running between St Helens and Ditton Junction as seen in the table below. There was an extra down train on Saturdays and three trains in each direction on Sundays.
| Up Trains (St Helens direction) December 1895 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Ditton Junction direction) December 1895 |
Destination |
| 7.24am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.45am |
Ditton Junction |
| 9.51am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
8.57am |
Ditton Junction |
| 12.22pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
11.36am |
Ditton Junction |
| 2.23pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
1.41pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 3.44pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
3.01pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 5.39pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
4.43pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 6.54pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.16pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 9.04pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
8.21pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 10.20pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
11.16pm (Saturdays Only) |
Ditton Junction |
By July 1922 there were ten up and nine down passenger services on weekdays as shown in the table below. Sunday services had ceased to run.
| Up Trains (St Helens direction) July 1922 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Ditton Junction direction) July 1922 |
Destination |
| 7.17am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.40am |
Ditton Junction |
| 8.18am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
8.51am |
Ditton Junction |
| 10.21am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
11.36am |
Ditton Junction |
| 12.17pm (Saturdays Only) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
2.27pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 12.28pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
3.25pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 3.02pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
4.47pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 4.18pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.34pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 5.32pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
9.02pm |
Ditton Junction |
| 5.43pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
9.58pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Ditton Junction |
| 7.12pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
10.18pm (Saturdays Only) |
Ditton Junction |
| 9.52pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
|
|
On 1 January 1923 Farnworth & Bold station became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). Very little changed, and the service continued to run between Ditton Junction and St Helens Shaw Street. The LMS summer timetable for 1932 had thirteen trains leaving Farnworth & Bold for St Helens and thirteen trains for Ditton Junction on weekdays. Additional trains ran on Saturdays.
During the Second World War the passenger service was cut back to only six trains per day in each direction, and they ran only in the morning and evening peak hours. There were midday services on Saturdays for shoppers but, in the main, the line was given over to goods services and troop trains. At the end of the War the services at Farnworth & Bold remained sparse although the trains that did run were popular with local people for travelling to work and for Saturday shopping trips.
On 1 January 1948 Farnworth & Bold became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region). The 1949 summer timetable had only six up and six down trains on Monday-to-Friday, with a long gap during the daytime as shown in the table below. On Saturdays there were retimed workings and a midday service.
| Up Trains (St Helens direction) Summer 1949 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Ditton Junction direction) Summer 1949 |
Destination |
| 7.11am (Saturdays Excepted) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.38am (Saturdays Excepted) |
Ditton Junction |
| 8.15am |
St Helens Shaw Street |
7.03am |
Ditton Junction |
| 12.26pm (Saturdays Only ) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
8.40am |
Ditton Junction |
| 1.45pm (Saturdays Only ) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
12.57pm (Saturdays Only ) |
Ditton Junction |
| 4.24pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
1.35pm (Saturdays Only ) |
Ditton Junction |
| 5.15pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
4.52pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Ditton Junction |
| 5.41pm |
St Helens Shaw Street |
5.36pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
Ditton Junction |
| 6.19pm (Saturdays Excepted) |
St Helens Shaw Street |
6.16pm |
Ditton Junction |
British Railways wanted to concentrate on goods services so they proposed that the St Helens Shaw Street and Ditton Junction passenger service be withdrawn. Despite local protest, and the replacement bus service taking considerably longer, passenger services were withdrawn on the 16 June 1951 and the ‘Ditton Dodger’ was no more.
Special workings and diversions continued to operate through Farnworth & Bold right up until the line closed as a through route in 1981.
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