The only station on a line connecting the Manchester-Preston Line at Bolton and the Manchester-Southport Line at Hindley near Wigan, it was opened in 1848, along with the line, by the Liverpool and Bury Railway, when the route between the two via Wigan and Bolton was completed. It subsequently became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The station is in Church Street, about ten minutes walk from the town centre. Westhoughton is also served by Daisy Hill railway station, around 15 minutes on foot from the town centre, on the Manchester-Southport Line, via Atherton. Unlike the town's other station at Daisy Hill, Westhoughton station has been unstaffed since 1974, when all the trackside and roadside buildings were demolished. This is despite the fact that Westhoughton enjoyed similar levels of patronage. From 2004 to 2012, passenger usage increased by 231%. The station's passenger usage seems set to grow further, as there has been considerable housing development on brownfield land, which was the site of a mine, within a few hundred yards of the station, as the town continues to grow as a commuter suburb. In the late 1980s, Westhoughton very nearly had a new third station at Dobb Brow, and planning went as far as allowing the proposed station to appear on railway maps as "may open during the course of this timetable". At the last moment, however, plans were shelved. In 2000, these plans were revived, but did not come to fruition. In 2008, unspecified development was planned for the station as part of GMPTE's plans to impose a congestion charge on drivers entering Manchester city centre at peak times, and use the funds raised to upgrade public transport provision. The scheme was dropped after the proposal was substantially rejected in a referendum.
Location and facilities
There are neither toilets nor refreshment facilities, nor a payphone since 2011. A card-only ticket machine and "remote travel information" are provided by screens on each platform. Until 2013, The Commercial pub stood next door to the station, when it was closed and put up for sale. There are bus stops for services to many parts of the town, and to the town's other station, Daisy Hill. Access to the Bolton platform is by a long steep multi-stepped ramp and to the Wigan platform via a steep unstepped ramp. Access to both platforms has not been improved for those with prams, pushchairs or wheelchairs. There is a large free car park with unsignposted access to the station. The station is partly maintained by the Friends of Westhoughton Station, a voluntary group set up in 2012 with the aim of brightening up the station and providing floral displays.
Services
For many years Westhoughton had an hourly service. Since the 1980s services have dramatically improved: Since the May 2018 timetable change, the service pattern has been altered significantly. All westbound trains now run to and from, where connections are available for Preston and points north and also for Crewe, London Euston and stations to Liverpool Lime Street via St Helens. Eastbound, there are two trains per hour to Bolton and Salford Crescent - one continues to Manchester Piccadilly, and, whilst the other runs to Manchester Victoria and. There are no longer regular trains to Wigan Wallgate and onward to - passengers must change at if travelling to these destinations. In the evening, the service drops to hourly. From the December 2019 timetable change however, the timetable is being revamped once again - though the service frequency remains unchanged, trains will now run through to Southport via Wallgate once again westbound and alternately to Stalybridge via Victoria and Alderley Edge via Piccadilly on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, there'll be an hourly service to Manchester Victoria and Wigan N.W. On weekends, trains were replaced by buses until the end of 2018 due to ongoing electrification work on the Preston - Bolton - Salford Crescent route. Regular through services to Liverpool via Wallgate and once operated via Bolton/Westhoughton, which originally formed part of the Liverpool and Bury Railway and also the L&Y main line between Liverpool Exchange and Manchester, prior to the opening of the direct route through Swinton. However, since the western end of the route was electrified in 1978, Kirkby trains have either terminated at Wigan or been re-routed via Atherton. Trains continuing to Bolton pass by, but cannot stop at, station, as there are no platforms for the Wigan line. Passengers wishing to travel from Westhoughton to Preston and Blackpool must either change at Wigan Wallgate, usually crossing the road to Wigan North Western, a 100 yards walk, or via Bolton. Connections to London Euston can be made at Wigan, which is recommended as there is always only one change, or at Manchester Piccadilly. Between May and December 2015, the service pattern was altered temporarily due to the work being carried out to widen Farnworth Tunnel as part of the plans to electrify the Manchester to Preston Line. With only limited capacity south of Bolton, Manchester services were reduced to an hourly frequency, and curtailed at Bolton on Monday to Fridays, whilst weekend services were replaced by buses as Bolton station was also undergoing upgrade work for electrification. A peak hour bus shuttle to and from Daisy Hill was introduced to connect with those trains that had been diverted via Walkden, whilst westbound trains ran to Kirkby once again rather than Southport. This timetable ended in December 2015, when the line through Farnworth Tunnel was reopened.
