The Fleetwood branch line is a railway line that ran from Preston to Fleetwood. It passed through many smaller stations along the way, most of which are now closed. When work at Fleetwood docks was under threat in the mid-1960s, the main Fleetwood station was closed, and the remainder of the branch south to Poulton followed in 1970. There are active proposals to re-open the branch to passenger services. [1]
The line was first opened in 1840. In 1966, Fleetwood station was closed, and Wyre Dock station became the terminus. [2] However, four years later, in 1970, passenger services were curtailed as far as Poulton-le-Fylde. [3] The line continued as a freight route to access the ICI plant at Burn Naze Halt until 1999, when all traffic on the line ceased.
Some of the line is now cleared of overgrowth because the northern track was not lifted from past Burn Naze Halt to just beyond Jameson Road in Fleetwood. However, the road bridge was filled in below it. The junction, last used when goods trains took coal to Fleetwood Power Station, still exists. Looking over the road bridge on Jameson Road, the track to both north and south can still be seen through the undergrowth. [4] In the 1990s, the new A585 Amounderness Way bypass was built on the former trackbed, although sufficient space still exists for a reinstated railway should it be required.
In its 2009 Connecting Communities report, the Association of Train Operating Companies supported the re-opening of the branch line to Fleetwood, [5] [6] and Lancashire County Council's (LCC) Rail Improvement Schemes draft report in March 2010 stated that the case for re-opening was "compelling". [1] Network Rail stated that a feasibility study had to take place first, which would cost around £30,000. [4] As well as re-opening the branch, it is likely that a third platform would also be constructed at Poulton-le-Fylde. [4]
During the 2019 general election campaign, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to reopen the line. [7]
As part of the Preston to Blackpool Electrification there is passive provision for reinstatement of the line to Burn Naze and Fleetwood. [8]
In January 2019, the line was identified by Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening. [9]
In January 2020, the government announced funding of £100,000 for a feasibility study of the route. [10]
The reinstatement of the Fleetwood Railway Line was allocated government funding in 2022 under the Restoring Your Railway Fund. [11] and it is estimated that the cost of re-opening the branch is £5.5 million. [1]
The Poulton & Wyre Railway Society is a local organisation campaigning for the line to be re-instated and have taken a three-year lease on Thornton for Cleveleys station. [12] LCC seeks to support the society to help to deliver the scheme. [1]
The Society, having completed full restoration of Thornton-and-Cleveleys station as their headquarters, has now begun work to clear vegetation and restore the disused platform at Burn Naze halt, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Thornton-and-Cleveleys, as part of their ambition to restore most of the line for heritage trains.
Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the borough's built-up areas form part of the wider Blackpool urban area. Eastern parts of the borough lie within the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Poulton-le-Fylde, commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,115.
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census.
Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Blackpool and 2 miles (3 km) south of Fleetwood. The civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed Thornton-Cleveleys in 1927. In 2011 the Thornton built-up area sub division had a population of 18,941.
The Preston and Wyre Railway was promoted to open up agricultural land in the Fylde in Lancashire, access a new port at what became Fleetwood and the Lancaster Canal at Preston: it opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to the company changing its name to the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. Passenger business was more buoyant than expected, and the company built branch lines to the nascent resort of Blackpool and Lytham that opened in 1846. At that time the line was leased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and later the London and North Western Railway took a share in the lease which was later converted to outright ownership. The Preston and Wyre Railway continued to be jointly owned as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway.
Thornton-Cleveleys is a conurbation consisting of the village of Thornton and the town of Cleveleys. The two settlements formed a joint urban district from 1927 until 1974, before becoming part of Wyre. The two settlements constitute part of the Blackpool Urban Area.
Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains, but also served by Avanti West Coast.
Moss Side railway station is on the Blackpool South-to-Preston line, in Lancashire, England. It is located in Moss Side, a hamlet where the B5259 road crosses the railway at a level crossing. It is managed by Northern, which operates all passenger services that call there.
The Blackpool branch lines are two railway lines running from the West Coast Main Line at Preston to Blackpool. The main branch, which is double tracked and electrified, runs to Blackpool North station via Poulton-le-Fylde. A second branch, which is single tracked and unelectrified, diverges from the main branch at Kirkham and Wesham junction, running on a southerly route to Blackpool South station via Lytham.
Thornton–Cleveleys was a railway station in England which served the Lancashire village of Thornton and town of Cleveleys. Located on the now disused line between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood, the station also had a shunting yard for the making-up of freight trains for Preston and beyond. During its life it was also known at times as Thornton station and Thornton for Cleveleys station. In the 1860s and early 1870s the line was of great importance, being the direct route from London to Glasgow. Before the Shap route was opened, passengers would travel from Euston to Fleetwood and then onwards via steamer to Scotland.
Burn Naze Halt railway station served Burn Naze in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England, between 1909 and 1970. The platforms were heavily overgrown with vegetation until 2014, when the Poulton & Wyre Railway Society began restoration work.
The Fylde is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile-long (21-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to the east which approximates to a section of the M6 motorway and West Coast Main Line.
Wyre Dock railway station served Fleetwood in Lancashire, England, from 1885 to 1970.
Burn Naze is a residential area of Thornton-Cleveleys, in the Borough of Wyre, Lancashire, England. It is located about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Blackpool and 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Fleetwood. Cleveleys is about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) to the west, while the River Wyre is about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) to the east.
Skippool is an area of Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. It is situated between Little Thornton and Poulton-le-Fylde along the western banks of the River Wyre, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of its mouth between Fleetwood and Knott End. These banks are known as Skippool Creek, an historic docks area now home to mostly run-down vessels. The MV Good Hope, for example, may date from the 1830s. Skippool Creek is a short branch off Main Dyke, which empties into the River Wyre in front of Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club.
Raikes Farmhouse is an historic building in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. Replacing a building dating from at least 1595, the current structure was built in 1692, with a rear extension added in the 19th century. It has been designated a Grade II listed building by Historic England. The property is located on Raikes Road, just southeast of its junction with Stanah Road and Hillylaid Road.
The Burn Naze was a public house in Burn Naze, Lancashire. Built in 1910, when it replaced the former Burn Naze Inn, it was one of the oldest pubs in the area by the time of its closure in 2019, and was listed as a community asset in 2021. It was demolished in 2022.
Public transport in the Fylde is available for three modes of transport—bus, rail and tram—assisting residents of and visitors to the Fylde, a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England, without their own vehicle, to travel around much of the area's 64 square miles (170 km2).
Poulton & Wyre Railway Society (PWRS) is a railway preservation company based in Lancashire, England. Formed in 2006, its main focus has been working towards reinstating the railway line between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood for passenger use. The line was taken out of use in 1970 and removed in certain sections.
ICI Hillhouse was a chlorine-production facility in Lancashire, England. A division of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), it was active between 1941 and 1992. Its triangular footprint spread from the banks of the River Wyre at Stanah in the east, to Hillylaid Road in the southwest, to the southern edge of Fleetwood in the north. Its entrances were on Hillylaid Road and on Butts Road in Burn Naze. Burn Naze Halt served those arriving by train.
