Diggle railway station

Not to be confused with Dingle railway station in Merseyside, England.

Diggle
Site of the former station, 1996
General information
Location	Diggle, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, England
Coordinates	53°34′09″N1°59′25″W / 53.5692°N 1.9904°W / 53.5692; -1.9904
Grid reference	SE007080
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 August 1849	Station opened
7 October 1968	Station closed
Location

Diggle railway station served the village of Diggle, in Greater Manchester, England. It was a stop on the Huddersfield Line, sited to the north of Uppermill and immediately to the west of the Standedge Tunnels.

v t e Micklehurst Loop
Legend
to Huddersfield Standedge Tunnel Diggle Butterhouse tunnel Uppermill Friezland Royal George tunnel Micklehurst Staley and Millbrook Stalybridge Victoria Junction to Manchester Victoria via Ashton Charlestown to Manchester Piccadilly via Ashton Park Parade to Stockport via Audenshaw

History

The station was opened in 1849 along with the first railway tunnel and closed to passenger traffic in 1968. In its heyday, the station had platforms serving all four lines. ^[1]

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Saddleworth Line open, station closed		London and North Western Railway Huddersfield Line		Marsden Line and station open
Uppermill Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Micklehurst Line

Incidents

Railway accident in 1923 from The Sphere, 14 July 1923

On 5 July 1923, an express passenger train, hauled by LNWR Whale Experiment Class 4-6-0 no. 1406 George Findlay, was in a rear-end collision with a freight train. Four people were killed. ^[2]

The site today

Little remains of the station today; all of the buildings and platforms have been demolished. The nearby signal box remains operational for the Huddersfield Line that it still in use. The water tank for tunnel troughs and the station cottages are extant. ^[1]

Reopening campaigns

Local residents have periodically campaigned for the station to be reopened. This has often been connected to proposals to fully reopen the Standedge Tunnels. ^[3]

In 2012, a renewed effort was launched by a local Liberal Democrat parish councillor. ^[4] This was unsuccessful, as Transport for Greater Manchester concluded that much of the cited passenger demand would actually be abstracted from the existing station at nearby Greenfield. ^[1]

References

Citations

1. Young, Alan (17 May 2017). "Station Name: Diggle". Disused Stations. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
2. Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble. Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 31. ISBN   0-906899-01-X.
3. "Anniversary Of When Local Stations Closed". Saddleworthlife.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
4. "Diggle station platform for investment". Oldham Evening Chronicle . 23 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.

Sources

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   1-85260-508-1.
• Hooper, John, An Illustrated History of Oldham's Railways ( ISBN   1-871608-19-8)