History
The line remained an important passenger artery into the 1960s, though freight had begun to disappear- the goods yards at Croston and Rufford closed around 1964, though that at Ormskirk remained active until 1969. Stopping passenger services were handed over to DMUs from the end of October 1965.
In 1969, the Labour Minister of Transport Richard Marsh refused to agree to British Railways request to withdraw local passenger services between Ormskirk and Preston, and to close the stations at Burscough Junction, Rufford and Croston. The price for the reprieve of the intermediate stations, though, was the line's future as a main line. From October 1969 stopping trains from Blackpool and Preston terminated at Ormskirk, and the last through trains from Liverpool to Preston ran on 3 May 1970. The line was singled with the removal of the old Down Main between Midge Hall and Omskirk in the summer of 1970, and from Midge Hall to Preston in 1983. Prior to 1972, some local trains ran via Moss Lane Junction, Lostock Hall and Todd Lane Junction into the ELR side of Preston station, but these were diverted to run along the West Coast Main Line via Farington Curve Junction following the closure of the East Lancs route into Preston in April 1972.
Read more about this topic: Ormskirk Branch Line
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