# Tyldesley Loopline

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The **Tyldesley Loopline** was part of the [London and North Western Railway](/source/London_and_North_Western_Railway)'s [Manchester and Wigan Railway](/source/Manchester_and_Wigan_Railway) line from [Eccles](/source/Eccles_railway_station) to the junction west of [Tyldesley station](/source/Tyldesley_railway_station) and its continuance south west via [Bedford Leigh](/source/Leigh_(Greater_Manchester)_railway_station) to [Kenyon Junction](/source/Kenyon_Junction_railway_station) on the [Liverpool and Manchester Railway](/source/Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway). The line opened on 1 September 1864 with stations at [Worsley](/source/Worsley_railway_station), [Ellenbrook](/source/Ellenbrook_railway_station,_Worsley), [Tyldesley](/source/Tyldesley), [Leigh](/source/Leigh,_Greater_Manchester) and [Pennington](/source/Pennington_railway_station) before joining the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Kenyon Junction.

## Construction

The London and North Western Railway [Bill](/source/Bill_(proposed_law)) received [royal assent](/source/Royal_assent) in July 1861 and the [first sod was cut](/source/Groundbreaking) at Worsley by the [Earl of Ellesmere](/source/Earl_of_Ellesmere) in the September.[1] During construction, a [Roman road](/source/Roman_road) was uncovered at Worsley. The railway was just over 16 miles long with 88 bridges, a [sandstone](/source/Sandstone) cutting at Parr Brow, Tyldesley and a 22-arch viaduct which took the railway through Leigh and over the [Bridgewater Canal](/source/Bridgewater_Canal). The work was expected to have been completed by May 1863 but lasted until the summer of 1864.[2]

## Development

Stations between Tyldesley and [Wigan](/source/Wigan) at [Chowbent](/source/Howe_Bridge_railway_station), [Hindley Green](/source/Hindley_Green) and [Platt Bridge](/source/Platt_Bridge) opened on the same day. A branch line leaving the Tyldesley to Eccles line at [Roe Green](/source/Roe_Green) Junction with stations at [Walkden](/source/Walkden), [Little Hulton](/source/Little_Hulton) and [Plodder Lane](/source/Plodder_Lane_railway_station) was authorised in 1865 and opened in 1870. The line was extended to [Great Moor Street](/source/Bolton_Great_Moor_Street_railway_station) in [Bolton](/source/Bolton,_Greater_Manchester) in 1874. [Monton Green station](/source/Monton_Green_railway_station)[3] between [Eccles station](/source/Eccles_railway_station) and [Worsley station](/source/Worsley_railway_station)[4] opened in 1877 to serve new housing. In 1876 Bedford Leigh was renamed Leigh & Bedford and in 1914 was again renamed to Leigh. Chowbent was renamed Howe Bridge in 1901.[5]

Stations on the line became part of the [London Midland and Scottish Railway](/source/London_Midland_and_Scottish_Railway) in 1923, and the [London Midland Region of British Railways](/source/London_Midland_Region_of_British_Railways) on [nationalisation](/source/Nationalisation) in 1948.

## Collieries

[Coal](/source/Coal), and the many collieries that were being developed in the area, was the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's supporters included many local colliery owners and industrialists. These included the [Earl of Ellesmere](/source/Earl_of_Ellesmere) owner of the [Bridgewater Collieries](/source/Bridgewater_Collieries), the Fletchers of [Fletcher, Burrows and Company](/source/Fletcher,_Burrows_and_Company) and millowner [Caleb Wright](/source/Caleb_Wright).[1] Collieries linked to the railway include [Astley and Tyldesley Collieries](/source/Astley_and_Tyldesley_Collieries)' [St George's](/source/St_George's_Colliery), [Nook](/source/Nook_Colliery) and [Gin Pit Collieries](/source/Gin_Pit_Colliery) which were connected at Jackson's sidings, [Bedford Colliery](/source/Bedford_Colliery) in Leigh was connected at Speakman's sidings on the Pennington branch and the [Shakerley](/source/Shakerley_Colliery_(Greens)), [Yew Tree](/source/Yew_Tree_Colliery) and [Cleworth Hall Collieries](/source/Cleworth_Hall_Colliery) belonging to the [Tyldesley Coal Company](/source/Tyldesley_Coal_Company) had a connection at Green's Sidings to the east of Tyldesley station and Ramsden's [Shakerley Collieries](/source/Shakerley_Collieries) had its own sidings.[6] [Mosley Common Colliery](/source/Mosley_Common_Colliery) was connected at [Ellenbrook](/source/Ellenbrook,_Greater_Manchester) and mines connected to the [Bridgewater Collieries](/source/Bridgewater_Collieries) system including [Sandhole Colliery](/source/Sandhole_Colliery) joined the line between [Roe Green](/source/Roe_Green) and Worsley at Sanderson's Sidings.[7]

## Closure

The Tyldesley Loopline closed following the [Beeching cuts](/source/Beeching_cuts) on 5 May 1969 and Leigh, Tyldesley, Monton Green and Worsley stations were closed.[8] The former trackbed which passes through the [Metropolitan Borough of Wigan](/source/Metropolitan_Borough_of_Wigan) area was reserved in the Unitary Development Plan in case the rail route could be reinstated. A [guided bus](/source/Guided_bus) route[9] running along the former trackbed to [Ellenbrook](/source/Ellenbrook,_Greater_Manchester) was proposed[10] but was not universally popular.[11] [Salford City Council](/source/City_of_Salford#Council) used the railway trackbed outside the Wigan boundary for recreational purposes turning it into a rail trail.[12] The [Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit](/source/Leigh-Salford-Manchester_Bus_Rapid_Transit) opened in April 2016. Its 4.5-mile guided busway section from Leigh via Tyldesley to Ellenbrook operates along the old rail alignment. Of Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) £122m overall spending on the bus route to Manchester Central Hospitals via the [city centre](/source/Manchester_city_centre), £68m was spent on the guided busway track and associated infrastructure.[13]

## References

### Citations

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 71.

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 72.

1. ["Monton Green Station"](http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/m/monton_green/index.shtml), Subterranea Britannica, retrieved 28 February 2010

1. ["Worsley Station"](http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/w/worsley/index.shtml), Subterranea Britannica, retrieved 28 February 2010

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 70.

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 92.

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 149.

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 114.

1. ["Leigh Salford Manchester Busway Project"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130520125844/http://www.brtuk.org/downloads/BRTSymposiumUniversityofWarwick6-7thDecemberPresentations_09.pdf), brtuk.org, archived from [the original](http://www.brtuk.org/downloads/BRTSymposiumUniversityofWarwick6-7thDecemberPresentations_09.pdf) on 20 May 2013, retrieved 28 February 2010

1. ["What's happening and when"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121102055210/http://www.tfgm.com/buspriority/Documents/bus-priority-scheme-map.pdf), [Transport for Greater Manchester](/source/Transport_for_Greater_Manchester), archived from [the original](http://www.tfgm.com/buspriority/Documents/bus-priority-scheme-map.pdf) on 2 November 2012, retrieved 7 August 2013

1. Gomm, Brian (19 August 2009), ["Busway 'off the rails'"](http://www.leighjournal.co.uk/news/4553415.Busway__off_the_rails_/), *Leigh Journal*, Newsquest Media Group, retrieved 28 February 2010

1. ["Monton Trail"](http://www.visitsalford.info/documents/montontrail.pdf), Visit Salford, retrieved 28 February 2010

1. ["Busway begins"](http://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/busway-begins/), Bus & Coach Buyer, 5 April 2016, retrieved 27 April 2016

### Bibliography

- Sweeney, D. J. (1996), *A Lancashire Triangle Part One*, Triangle Publishing, ISBN 0-9529333-0-6

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tyldesley Loopline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyldesley_Loopline) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyldesley_Loopline?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.