Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 27th August, 2012)

Ince station could do with a group of out of work are retired Incers to be friends with it.

Just like the wonderful Hindley railway station as.

Colin, the annual number of passengers that used this station in 2010/11 was 19,176 and for Wigan Wallgate was 1.574 million. Refer :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ince_(Wigan)_railway_station

Don't you mean "unkempt"?

you would have thought that at least the steps would have been kept clear of vegetation!
need the ‘Friends of Hindley’ station to come calling

This is so sad. We used to go to Southport from here when I was a little girl. There was a little ticket-office where my Dad bought our tickets, and a cosy waiting-room with a coal-fire that lay unlit on those Sunny June mornings. I can still feel the excitement as the steam-train pulled in and there was a scramble for seats in long, narrow carriages; The windows were opened by leather straps, and my Dad's party-piece was to recite all the stations between Wigan and Southport....."Gathurst, Appley Bridge, Parbold"......etc.etc. When we got near the bone-works, which stunk to high heaven, the sound of the carriage-windows closing all along the train was like machine-gun fire!

This is what you get from cost cutting, bring back BR. The so called station is run-down too. That bridge support is decaying.

slip & trip hazard on the steps plus roots dont do the foundations any good.Bring back the station master who would be responsible for making sure this did not happen.

it's a drug den under this bridge we have to patrol the track every week and if we come across drug paraphernalia were mean't to get cotractors just to move them.

It would take a brave man to climb ladders to clear that colin
Praps get your darren down to it lol
I dont do ladders

Its worse still the other side of the bridge, whatever happened to the old platelayers who used to keep their stretch of track clean and tidy

Is this the bridge that has traffic lights at each end??

good photo well done.michael why so picky.unkept/ unkempt.id say unkept.

Irene,you have evoked such fond memories,
you have a way with words.Thank you.

Hi Peter, I think Darren would tackle those weeds for a few bob.
You would think that the powers-that-be would employ a company to remove those weeds. Even trees was growing through the masonry. I'm no expert, but they could spray the weeds from over the road bridge, but I suppose Health and Safety would have something to say about that.

I thought it was fenced off now cullie?

Ernest, the only trains that I have been on in, recent years, that stopped at Ince have been returning to Wigan. Perhaps if more Manchester bound trains stopped they would get a lot more passengers.

Thankyou, Tom.

John, extract from website I mentioned earlier :-
"The station is served only by certain trains on the Wigan to Manchester routes - currently there is an hourly service in each direction to Manchester Victoria and to Kirkby (Wigan during the evenings) respectively . A small number of morning & evening weekday peak services to and from Bolton also call.

There is now a Sunday service for the Atherton line."

Well said Tom. Irene can bring the Ince of former days to life, as she did so well before Past Forward magazine went downhill.Interesting photo provoking food for thought.

Thankyou Neil, what a lovely thing to say; I'll treat you to a pie when you come to Wigan next week!

This was our dropping off point for a good days train spotting in the fifties and sixties.
We would catch the train at Daisy Hill in Owfen and get off and walk down to Springs Branch with our Corona pop and jam butties ready for a full days entertainment,....happy happy days.

owdkewyed, you would have been jealous of me! In the fifties, when I was a very small child, (born 1952), my brother Colin, many years my senior, used to take me to Springs Branch to collect his wages, and I would be lifted onto the footplates of the shunting engines and see the coal being shovelled into the firebox. The heat was unbelievable, and even though I greatly enjoyed the experience, it would have been heaven-on-earth to a little lad!

The figures quoted for passengers that use Ince are false.
Not just incorrect-false.
I'll leave it to others to work out why this is so...
The 'incorrect' figures are caused by the train guards putting Wigan on the tickets instead of Ince.
This happens almost every time they sell a ticket on the train at Ince.
Another thing is...trains no longer stop at Ince that run to Bolton or Southport. This has reduced use in that respect.

it is fenced off they come down to the platform and they av access to the trackside.

OK D.Molyneux. Another example of the Internet not having the facts correct. Wonder if any train guards view P-a-D?

Your dead right Irene, we were too frightened to go to the sheds.The wall we sat on would have meant crossing all the main lines to get there, but that would have been the easy part compared to trying to evade the shed foreman!!.

When we were at St Mary's we frequently used the trains from Ince - but once we got our passes we wouldn't appear on any stats for use of the station.

That's correct, Rev Long. It really does appear that Northern Rail are attempting to run down the station.
...To wipe it off the rail map?
If service was reinstated to Bolton, there would be no shortage of passengers. I expect Wigan council wouldn't be to happy about this as it could take custom from Wigan town centre.

For years the government have been telling us to leave our cars at home. Then what happens? Rail service from Ince is cut. Somethings just not right there!
Ince is PERFECT for Park & Ride. Loads of land next to the station that could be made into a secure car park. Yet they build a P&R near Hindley station! Terrible place due to traffic in Ladies Lane.
I reckon its because fat-cats live at the top of Ladies Lane and along Hall Lane...

Reinstate Bolton service and Ince will be back to its former glory.
I agree with D.M. Deliberate run down of station. Incers are always treated as second class citizens.

i remember the gas lights on ince station,and the old tunnel thing you walked down to get on the platform