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Bury Knowsley Street railway station

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Coordinates: 53°35′21″N 2°17′57″W / 53.58930°N 2.29916°W / 53.58930; -2.29916
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Bury Knowsley Street
The station in 1963
General information
LocationBury, Greater Manchester
England
Coordinates53°35′21″N 2°17′57″W / 53.58930°N 2.29916°W / 53.58930; -2.29916
Grid referenceSD803103
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-groupingLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-groupingLondon Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1848Station opens as Bury
February 1866Renamed Bury Market Place
1888Renamed Bury Knowsley Street
5 October 1970Station closed[1]

Bury Knowsley Street was a railway station in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It formerly served the town on the national railway network between 1848 and 1970.

History

[edit]
The remains of Knowsley Street railway station in 1988

The station was first opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 1 May 1848, as the eastern terminus of the Liverpool and Bury Railway; it was named simply Bury.[1]

Services ran east to Heywood and Rochdale, and west to Bolton, Wigan Wallgate, Liverpool Exchange, Chorley and Preston. There was also a connection from here northwards to neighbouring Bolton Street station on the East Lancashire Railway line from Clifton Junction to Bacup and Accrington.[2]

The station was renamed twice: to Bury Market Place in February 1866 and to Bury Knowsley Street in 1888.[1]

The line and station were closed on 5 October 1970, as part of continuing cutbacks in British Rail services and the line west to Bolton was subsequently dismantled. The station buildings were demolished in the spring of 1971; the disused platforms survived until the early 1990s.[3]

The line had stayed open to freight, along with the old ELR route to Rawtenstall, until December 1980; between March 1980 until final closure, it crossed what is now the Manchester Metrolink line to Bury Interchange on a flat crossing, though it was still operated by British Rail at that time.[3]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Broadfield   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway   Bury Bolton Street
    Radcliffe Black Lane

Accidents

[edit]

On 8 March 1912, John William Redfern was working at the station as a goods guard for the ASRS. Due to a "signaller error", two light engines collided with the goods train Redfern was guarding. The collision caused three of the goods wagons to derail and roll down the embankment; this accident led to Redfern dying of his injuries as well as injuring three others.[4]

On 19 January 1952, the station footbridge collapsed under the weight of a large crowd entering the station following a football match. Two people were killed and 173 injured when the metal struts supporting the bridge's footway failed. No trains were in the station at the time.[5] The accident report determined that, while the bridge's design was adequate, it had been inadequately maintained and the metal struts that failed had almost certainly required replacement for 10 or 15 years prior to the accident.[6]

The site today

[edit]

There is now no physical trace of the station buildings. The line from Bury Bolton Street to Heywood runs through the station site; it was reopened in 2003 by the East Lancashire Railway.[3]

In order to reopen the route, a bridge (with steep approach gradients on either side known locally as the "ski-jump") was constructed in the early 1990s and opened to traffic in July 2003 to carry the ELR line over the Metrolink; this now occupies the old station site.[3]

The route towards Bolton is now overgrown and derelict and has been blocked at Bradley Fold by a housing development.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 49, 50. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  2. ^ Wright, Paul; Young, Alan (4 June 2017). "Station name: Bury Bolton Street". Disused Stations. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Wright, Paul; Young, Alan (25 September 2017). "Station name: Bury Knowsley Street". Disused Stations. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
  4. ^ Sistig, Bekah (15 April 2024). "Goods guards: the dangers of signallers' errors". Railway Accidents. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  5. ^ Thomson, David (17 September 2007). "Reader recalls tragedy at Knowsley Street station". The Bury Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Minister of Transport Accident Report" (PDF). Railwaysarchive.co.uk. 1952. Retrieved 2 June 2022.


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