| Notes: Heatley Station was situated on what was to become known
as the Ditton Junction to Skelton Junction line. It was opened
on 1.11.1853 as part of the Warrington and Stockport Railway which
ran from a temporary terminus at Wilderspool in Warrington to
Altrincham where it connected with the MSJA line into Manchester.
At the same time the St. Helens Railway |
 |
(formerly the St. Helens
and Runcorn Gap Railway) opened a line from Garston Dock to a
temporary terminus at Warrington Whitecross.
 |
On the 1.5.1854 the
two lines were joined together at a new joint station Warrington
Arpley. This now created an alternative Liverpool to Manchester
route to that of the LNWR. The station was renamed Heatley &
Warburton in 1857. However by 1860 the LNWR had a lease on the
Warrington and Stockport line and on 1.1.1861 bought it out completely.
It was |
only then a matter of time and on 1.8.1864 the St. Helens
Railway was absorbed also. This was to seal the lines fate as
from this point forward it would always be a secondary route as
far as passenger services were concerned.
| A number of local services used various parts of the line with
most through trains being between Ditton Junction and Manchester
Oxford Road. Some trains did run from Liverpool Lime Street to
Manchester but they were not very frequent. This was the service
that continued up to the end of passenger services and in later
years it was provided by a tank engine and |
 |
push/pull sets of coaches.
There was a brief interlude when DMUs were tried in the late 1950's
but by the early 1960's the service was back in the hands of the
push pull sets.
 |
Heatley & Warburton Station closed to passengers on 10.9.1962
when all regular passenger services on the line ceased. The line
continued in use as a busy freight artery particularly for coal
heading west towards Fiddlers Ferry Power Station and Garston
Docks. Even in the early 1980s there were 60 trains per day booked
to use the line east of Warrington. However |
expensive repairs were needed to the bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal at Latchford
and many trains could take alternative routes. The line closed
east of Latchford with the last booked trains running on 7.7.1985.
In 1988 the line was lifted by a demolition train.
Today the route east of Latchford bridge forms part of the Trans
Pennine Trail cycleway and footpath.
Tickets from Michael Stewart.
To see the other
stations on the Ditton Junction to Skelton Junction Line click
on the station name: Ditton,
Widnes South, Cuerdley,
Fidlers
Ferry & Penketh, Sankey
Bridges, Warrington
Bank Quay Low Level, Warrington
Arpley, Latchford,
Thelwall, Lymm,
Dunham Massey & Broadheath. |
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