Diggle railway station

Last updated

Diggle
Diggle station site geograph-3411680-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
Site of the station in 1996
General information
Location Diggle, Oldham
England
Grid reference SE007080
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company London and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 August 1849Station opens
7 October 1968Station closes
Location
Diggle railway station

Diggle railway station was a station that served the village of Diggle on the Huddersfield Line to the north of Uppermill. Immediately to the west of the Standedge tunnels, it was opened in 1849 along with the first rail tunnel and closed to passenger traffic in 1968. [1] In its heyday, the station had platforms serving all four lines but little trace remains of it today—all of the buildings and much of platforms having been demolished (although the nearby signal box remains operational).

Railway accident in 1923 from The Sphere 14 July 1923 Railway accident at Diggle, Yorkshire in 1923.png
Railway accident in 1923 from The Sphere 14 July 1923

On 5 July 1923, an express passenger train, hauled by Ex-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]

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. [5]

Preceding stationHistorical railwaysFollowing 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
 
Micklehurst Loop
BSicon CONTg.svg
BSicon TUNNEL1.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Diggle
BSicon eKRWgl.svg
BSicon exKRW+r.svg
BSicon LSTRe.svg
BSicon exTUNNEL1.svg
Butterhouse tunnel
BSicon exHST.svg
Uppermill
BSicon exHST.svg
Friezland
BSicon exTUNNEL1.svg
Royal George tunnel
BSicon exHST.svg
Micklehurst
BSicon LSTRa.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Staley and Millbrook
BSicon eKRWg+l.svg
BSicon exKRWr.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Stalybridge
BSicon CONTf.svg

Notes

  1. Diggle Community Association - Railways www.digglevillage.org.uk; Retrieved 20 March 2009
  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 – SADDLEWORTH LIFE". www.saddleworthlife.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  4. "Diggle Station platform for investment". Oldham Evening Chronicle . 23 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  5. Disused Stations- Diggle Disused Stations; Retrieved 7 January 2016


References

53°34′09″N1°59′25″W / 53.5692°N 1.9904°W / 53.5692; -1.9904