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Atherton railway station serves the town of Atherton, Greater Manchester, England, and is the main station on the line between Wigan and Manchester on the Manchester to Southport Line, and according to Strategic Rail Authority figures is the busiest station on the line (excluding Wigan & Manchester; Salford Crescent is technically not on the line). The station is located 11¾ miles (19 km) north west of Manchester Victoria with regular Northern Rail services to Kirkby and Southport. Atherton is the nearest station to Leigh, one of the largest towns in Britain without its own railway station. The 582 bus service provides a frequent service to Leigh and Bolton, a connection not overly promoted by Transport for Greater Manchester. Although it lies some distance from the centre of the town, the present Atherton station was originally named Atherton Central to differentiate it from Atherton Bag Lane (on the line from Bolton Great Moor Street to Kenyon Junction) which was closed in 1954〔(Atherton Bag Lane )〕 and Howe Bridge on the line between Wigan North Western and Manchester Exchange. ==History== The station dates from 1888, when the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway opened a direct line between ''Windsor Bridge Junction'' and ''Crow Nest Junction'' (near Hindley) to shorten its main line between Manchester & Liverpool and avoid the congested Bolton area. It was well used from the beginning and was subsequently quadrupled shortly after the turn of the century, later carrying through expresses from Manchester to Blackpool, Windermere and Glasgow (again to avoid Bolton) in addition to Liverpool workings. The station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923, and then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The cutbacks of the mid to late 1960s saw all the long distance services diverted via other routes, rendering the additional tracks obsolete and they were taken out of use on 21 November 1965 (the now-derelict outer platforms they served are still just visible). During the early to middle 1970s, the station had a sparse service outside weekday peak periods (see British Railways timetable 95, 1974) but in more recent times, the frequency levels have improved considerably with financial support from GMPTE, with a resultant increase in patronage. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways with support from the PTE, an arrangement that continued after the Privatisation of British Railways with co-operation from the current operating company. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Atherton railway station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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