Notes: Haslingden station was located on the East Lancashire Railway’s (ELR) Clifton Junction to Accrington line which had opened in stages between September 1846 and August 1848. The section of line on which Haslingden stood was originally promoted by the Blackburn, Bury, Accrington & Colne Extension Railway (BBACER), which was incorporated on 30th June1845 to build a T-shaped line between Stubbins and Colne/Burnley via Accrington. Three weeks later, on 21st July 1845, BBACER was absorbed into the East Lancashire Railway (ELR).

By 1845 the ELR was in the final stages of building a line from Clifton Junction to Rawtenstall via Stubbins. The aims of the ELR and the BBACER were so much in alignment, to create a route from the east Lancashire area to Manchester, that a merger of the two companies was seen as the best way forward. The economy of the town of Haslingden, like its

Haslingden station opened along with the entire 7.4 mile section of line between Stubbins Junction and Accrington on 17th August 1848, the line from Stubbins to Clifton Junction having opened nearly two years previously on 25th September 1846. The line required heavy engineering works and had severe gradients as it ascended from about 450ft to the summit of 771ft at Rising Bridge in only 2½ miles. From Accrington there was a lengthy climb at 1 in 40, easing to 1 in 47, and then 1 in 100 through Baxenden to Rising Bridge. To the south the gradients were less dramatic, but there were long stretches at 1 in 76 for much of the distance to Stubbins Junction.

The station was located on the northwest outskirts of the town, at the north end of the 146-yard Haslingden (or North Hag) Tunnel. As the line was double-track the station was provided with two platforms. The main station buildings were located east of the line on the Manchester-bound platform. An approach road led to the main entrance of the station from the junction of Bridge Street and Booth Street. The main building was a long, single-storey stone built structure, with paired round-headed windows and recessed areas serving as passenger shelters on the platform. The slate hipped roof projected a short distance over the platform to provide an awning. On the Accrington-bound platform a long ridge-roofed timber shelter, amply supplied with windows, was provided. A lattice-pattern footbridge linked the two platforms at the south end of the station. The station also possessed goods facilities including sidings and a goods shed located east side of the line, a little north of the station. The 1849 timetable showed seven weekday trains from Haslingden to Colne, and six to Manchester which originated at Colne. Four services ran to Colne on Sundays and three to Manchester from Colne. On 13th May 1859 the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR) absorbed the ELR. The LYR started to use the route through Haslingden as an alternative to its congested

On 1st January 1922 Haslingden became part of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) but a year later that company was in turn absorbed into the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). By summer 1932 the station had seventeen northbound services on weekdays; most went to Colne, but three travelled only as far as Accrington. The first northbound service was for Colne, and it left Haslingden at 6:12 am. The last service, which had originated from Manchester Victoria, left Haslingden for Colne at 11:12 pm. Eighteen trains travelled south from Haslingden to Manchester Victoria on weekdays. The first southbound departure was at 6:15 am, and the last was at 10:18 pm.

On 1st January 1948 Haslingden became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region). In 1959 there were thirteen trains in each direction on weekdays, but that year trains ceased to call on Sundays. In the station’s final timetable its demise was foretold as some weekday trains, which called at Helmshore, omitted the Haslingden stop. The

As with the other stations between Accrington and Bury - apart from Baxenden, which closed in 1951 - Haslingden was fitted with BR (LMR) enamel totem signs: they had probably been installed for under three years when the station closed.

Goods ceased to be handled at Haslingden on 2nd November 1964, but both passenger and goods trains continued to pass through the station site until December 1966, after which the line was closed. Track remained in situ until October 1971. By April 1976 the station had been entirely demolished, leaving an untidy wasteland. However the scene was to

Tickets from Michael Stewart , route map drawn by Alan Young, timetables from Chris Totty

Sources:

• J Wells & E F Bentley  Scenes from the Past 13 – East Lancashire Lines Bury to Heywood & Rawtenstall. (Foxline 2000)
• Martin Bairstow  Railways in East Lancashire (Pub: Author 1988)
• Christopher Awdry  Encyclopedia of British Railway Companies  (Patrick Stephens 1990)
• G Suggitt Lost Railways of Lancashire  (Countryside Books 2003)
  
• Clinker’s Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots by C R Clinker (Pub: Avon Anglia 1978)
• The reshaping of British Railways (HMSO 1963)
• Hansard: 21st December 1966 (HMSO 1966)
• M Quick Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (Railway & Canal Historical Society 2009)
• LMS Passenger Timetable 18th July to 11th September 1932
• BR (LMR) Passenger Timetable Summer 1959; June 1965-April 1966

To see other stations on the East Lancashire Railway Clifton Junction - Bacup line click on the station name on the station name:
Clifton Junction, Molyneux Brow, Ringley Road, Radcliffe Bridge, Withens Lane, Bury Bolton Street, Summerseat, Ramsbottom, Helmshore, Baxenden & Accrington

See also Stubbins Junction to Bacup: Stubbins, Irwell Vale (new station on the ELR), Ewood Bridge & Edenfield, Rawtenstall, Clough Fold, Waterfoot for Newchurch, Stacksteads & Bacup