Notes: At the time of opening Widnes station was served by trains between Liverpool and Manchester and shorter workings along the route. Some trains from Liverpool terminated at Widnes station. St Helens line trains also served the station, running between Ditton Junction and St Helens. When the Garston & Warrington line had originally been built its owner (The St Helens Canal & Railway Company) had seen it as a main line. The LNWR took over the route on 1 August 1864 and they saw it as a secondary passenger route but an important freight artery.

Widnes enjoyed a good level of service in the late 19th Century the December 1895 timetable showed 25 ‘up’ (Manchester/St Helens direction) departures and 22 ‘down’ (Liverpool direction) departures on Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. There were 2 additional trains in each direction on Saturdays and on Sundays there were 7 'up' and 6 'down' services.

In 1911 a railmotor was introduced onto the St Helens service. It became known locally as the 'Ditton Dodger'. The railmotor was a success and by 1919 it was inadequate for the service. The LNWR introduced Webb tank locomotives capable of operating push and pull trains onto the service with two coaches.

On the Liverpool and Manchester services the LNWR tended to deploy elderly main line locomotives that were reaching the end of their working lives.

The July 1922 timetable showed Widnes as having 27 ‘up’ departures and 23 ‘down’ services Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. There was one less train in each direction on Saturdays and on Sundays there were 4 'up' and 3 'down' trains. The St Helens service no longer ran on Sundays by 1922.

Little changed when the LMS took over in January 1923. In the summer of 1932 Widnes had 24 up departures on weekdays. Ten services travelled to Manchester London Road, four to Warrington Bank Quay and ten to St Helens Shaw Street. The first eastbound departure was at 5.48am, and its destination was Manchester London Road. There were 31 down services: 15 travelled to Liverpool Lime Street, some of them originating at Widnes, and 16 services went to Ditton Junction. The first down departure was the 6.10am to Liverpool Lime Street. The last was also for Liverpool Lime Street at 10.23pm.

During the Second World War services on the St Helens line were reduced to only three trains in the morning peak and three in the afternoon on weekdays only. After the war was over the service remained at this level but some mid-day services for shoppers did run on Saturdays.

The last LMS summer timetable of 1947 showed 17 up trains Monday-to-Saturday. There were 13 down trains on Monday-to-Friday and 17 on Saturdays as shown in the table below. There were no trains on Sundays.

The first summer British Railways timetable of 1948 showed a similar level of service to that of the last year of the LMS. After the withdrawal of the St Helens service Widnes station had only scheduled services on the former Garston & Warrington line. In the summer 1957 timetable there were only eight ‘up’ and five ‘down’ departures on Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. On Saturdays there were retimed workings and one less up train. The York Mail had ceased to call at Widnes by this time but it still passed through.

Many special train services ran from Widnes station in the 1950s including works outings and rugby league supporters’ trains.

Only a few months after renaming the station as Widnes South on 5 January 1959 British Railways was considered withdrawing the passenger service. Widnes South was being used by only half a dozen passengers per day. In the summer 1961 timetable the passenger service was wrongly shown as withdrawn with a note underneath stating that it was still operating. A timetable was added in the back of the timetable for the service.

The last timetable for Widnes South had only 8 ‘up’ and 3 ‘down’ trains Monday-to-Friday, with a long gap in the daytime as shown in the table below. On Saturdays there were only 6 'up' trains. With such a poor level of service it was little wonder that so few passengers used Widnes South.

Tickets by Michael Stewart, timetables from and route map drawn by Alan Young.

For interesting timetable information see the Timetable World website

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