Bury_Knowsley_Street_railway_station Knowpia

Bury Knowsley Street
Bury Knowsley Street
	The station in 1963
General information
Location	Bury, Greater Manchester; England
Coordinates	53°35′21″N 2°17′57″W / 53.58930°N 2.29916°W
Grid reference	SD803103
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1848	Station opens as Bury
February 1866	renamed Bury Market Place
1888	renamed Bury Knowsley Street
5 October 1970	Station closed

Bury Knowsley Street is a former railway station in Bury.

History edit

What was left 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) originally being named simply Bury.^[1] Services ran east to Heywood and Rochdale and west to Bolton and Wigan Wallgate (and also towards Chorley, Liverpool 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. 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 subsequently dismantled.

Accident edit

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.^[2]

The accident report determined that while the bridge's design was adequate, it had been inadequately maintained and the metal struts which failed had almost certainly required replacement for 10 or 15 years prior to the accident.^[3]

Current edit

There is no physical trace of the station buildings (which were demolished soon after passenger services ended) or the disused platforms (these survived until the early 1990s). The line from Bury Bolton Street to Heywood through the station site was reopened in 2003 by the East Lancashire Railway. This had stayed open to freight (along with the old ELR route to Rawtenstall) until December 1980 and had previously (from March 1980 until final closure) crossed what is now the Manchester Metrolink line to Bury Interchange (though it was still BR-operated at that time) on the level. 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^[4] to carry the ELR line over the Metrolink and this now occupies the old station site.

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

References edit

^ ^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.
^ Thomson, David (17 September 2007). "Reader recalls tragedy at Knowsley Street station". The Bury Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
^ "Minister of Transport Accident Report" (PDF). Railwaysarchive.co.uk. 1952. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
^ Disused Stations - Bury Bolton Street, Disused Stations; Retrieved 3 March 2016