Wigan Album

Great view of the train leaving Wigan Central Station. If the line through to Manchester Central had not been demolished in the 1960's Beaching cuts we might now have had a Metro Tram line straight into Manchester. How clean would that be?

The line closed to passengers on 2nd November 1964, it was used for goods, then completely closed on the 5th April 1965. The station demolished in 1973.

Whilst it would be useful to have an alternative to the trains to Manchester when there are strikes and other problems affecting the railway, I'm not sure how attractive a trip by tram into Manchester via Irlam would be. How long would it take? Rochdale has the benefit of both train and tram lines into Manchester - the train takes 15 minutes - the tram 45 minutes (to Victoria). Wigan already has two train lines to Manchester - via Hindley/ Bolton and Hindley/ Atherton (both around 45 minutes,) and the fast route via the WCML and the Liverpool-Manchester line through Eccles (about 25 minutes). The latter is all-electric now, and the line via Bolton will be soon.

Spot on Colin , what i recall anbout the station was my dad taking me to my first match watching the great MAN UTD we got the train and the get off is right along the main satnd at OLD TRAFFORD that would be about 1956/7/8 era I agree it would have made a great tram route into Manchester for is Wiganer's .

The wigan central line joined the Manchester-Liverpool line at glazebrook jct then on to irlam,flixton,urmston,trafford park,and originally Manchester Central [G-MEX today]. Now into Oxford rd & piccadilly

alan winstanley ; i remember the station at Old Trafford ,is it still in use

No to trams! Such technology is a step backwards and, worse still, most trams running in the UK are imported. As for trams being cleaner... the power for them is still, mainly, obtained from fossil fuels. If we keep sticking to old technology, humankind could stagnate.

Thanks Lynne, I take your point but totally disagree.
Have you ever take the road trip to Leigh or Hindley particularly at peak periods by car or bus? A great pleasure crawling along sometimes at a snails pace with petrol and diesel fumes pumping out poison.
Of course trams were not popular in the 1960' 70's (unless you lived in Blackpool!!!) and they were noisy and smelly, these days they are much cleaner not coal powered, would you have the line resurfaced to take horse drawn carts, how clean and progressive would that be. They are not the vehicles of old but I must confess I have never been on one.
Had the line been kept open for trains and then converted to trams, much of the land that it would pass through is brown field post industrial waste land. There could have been much needed development of housing and 'clean' industry, perhaps a manufacturing centre for trams, ground pumps and wind turbines and more stations at various points, bring economic benefits to the Wigan MB and integrating Wigan and Leigh much more closely
Forget going to Manchester, Wigan Central Station modernised and refurbished perhaps with golden onion domes and a fine restaurant in the old showrooms could have been a destination in itself.
Well, back to reality, we have what we have in Wigan and Leigh and everyone is complaining at both towns demise. Happy days.

AH - The station next to Old Trafford football ground closed 5 years ago. Lynne - do you have electricity at home? I find your reasoning difficult to understand. Do you drive a car, where was it built? Trams are much more environmentally friendly than the current diesel trains that run between Wigan and Manchester. Trams may not be the best way to travel between Wigan and Manchester but to intermediate stations, it would take cars off the road, which according to your reasoning, is a good thing. What is the NEW technology you envisage? Windmills are old technology but seem to be the way forward!!