Vorlage:Infobox UK station Widnes railway station (formerly known as Widnes North) is a railway station in the town of Widnes, in the Halton unitary authority, in the county of Cheshire in the north west of England. It is a Grade II listed building.[1] The station is operated by Northern Rail.
Facilities
The station is of the standard Cheshire Lines Committee style. A footbridge connects the two platforms. The station is staffed, but only until 14:00. There is a car park outside. The station was refurbished in 2009 but there is still no waiting room, though there is a small shelter on the Warrington-bound platform.
History
The station, opened in 1873, was originally known as Farnworth, which was at the time a village north of Widnes, but is now a northern suburb of the town. The station was later renamed Widnes North and finally Widnes (Widnes Central and Widnes South, on other lines, having closed in the 1960s).
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/ (see alphabetical list under "Widnes")
Service
There are generally two local trains (operated by Northern Rail) per hour in each direction, to Manchester Oxford Road to the east and Liverpool Lime Street to the west. Journey times from Widnes to Mancheter on these local trains are around 45-50 minutes, depending on the number of stops. Journey time to Liverpool is around 25-30 minutes, again depending on stops.
An express service also operates hourly in each direction (run by East Midlands Trains), continuing beyond Manchester Piccadilly towards Nottingham and East Anglia. The journey time on most of these trains to Manchester is 30 minutes, whilst Liverpool can be reached in 18 minutes.
The ticket office is staffed on a part time bases between the hours of (06:00 and 14:00 Mon-Sat).
Vorlage:Rail start Vorlage:Rail line Vorlage:Rail line Vorlage:Rail line Vorlage:End box
Paul Simon's "Homeward Bound"
Paul Simon is thought to have been inspired to write the song "Homeward Bound" while waiting at this station on a tour of the United Kingdom. A plaque commemorating this claim to fame is situated in the ticket office on the Liverpool bound platform of the station. The song, however, was actually written at the now disused Ditton station.[2][3] Simon is quoted as saying "[i]f you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London as quickly as possible."[4]
Notes
External links
- ↑ Images of England, accessed 17 July 2007
- ↑ Just ask Sunday Mail (Glasgow); Dec 24, 2006; MARGRET CAMPBELL; p. 38
- ↑ GADFLY - Paul's fair deal for Scarborough Northern Echo (Darlington); Jun 7, 2006; MIKE AMOS; p. 11
- ↑ Backtrack - BACKTRACK BRIEFS . . . Northern Echo (Darlington); Nov 21, 2008; Mike Amos; p. 11