Diggle railway station
Diggle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Site of the former station, 1996 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Diggle, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°34′09″N 1°59′25″W / 53.5692°N 1.9904°W | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| |||||
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.
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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 |
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Incidents
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
- ^ a b c Young, Alan (17 May 2017). "Station Name: Diggle". Disused Stations. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble. Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 31. ISBN 0-906899-01-X.
- ^ "Anniversary Of When Local Stations Closed". Saddleworthlife.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ "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)