page_title: Clifton railway station (Greater Manchester)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Clifton railway station (Greater Manchester) / History
caption_attribution_description: Pre Grouping railway junction around Bromshall, Clifton (Molyneux), Hay, Liskeard, Patricroft &amp; Uttoxeter
context_page_description: Clifton railway station is a railway station in Clifton, Greater Manchester, England which was formerly called Clifton Junction. It lies on the Manchester–Preston line.
context_section_description: The railway line between Salford and Bolton, the Manchester and Bolton Railway (M&BR), opened in 1838, but had no stations between Agecroft Bridge and Ringley. In 1844, the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway (MB&RR) was authorised to build a line from a junction with the M&BR at Clifton, to Rawtenstall. It opened to the public on 28 September 1846, by which time the MB&RR had amalgamated with other companies to become the East Lancashire Railway, and the M&BR had itself amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway; the M&LR became the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847.
  The Bury line ran northward from the junction, crossing the Irwell Valley on the Clifton Viaduct (known locally as the "13 arches"), to run on the opposite side of the valley to the Bolton line. A station at the junction, with two platforms for each route (Bolton or Bury), opened in June 1847, and was named Clifton Junction.
  The line to Bury closed in 1966, but (as of October 2013) the viaduct remains a Grade II listed local landmark.
  On 6 May 1974 the station was renamed Clifton, (even though the area has become known as Clifton Junction), and in the 1990s the service was reduced to one train per day in each direction.
  The closest station to Clifton Junction with a regular service is Swinton 1.25 miles (2.01 km) away on the line between Manchester and Wigan Wallgate via Atherton.
  Local industry made good use of Clifton Junction railway station long before the advent of mass car ownership when three factories were established close by enabling employees and visitors access by train. The three factories were Magnesium Elektron Ltd, Chloride Batteries Ltd and Pilkington's Tiles Ltd.
caption: A 1905 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (upper right) railways in the vicinity of Clifton
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