Preston Railway Station - Usage and Services

Usage and Services

There are currently six through and two bay platforms in use at Preston, with two more available for emergency use. All lines are electrified, allowing any train to use any platform.

In more recent years, most platforms are now used for bi-directional travel.

• Platforms 1 and 2 are used by local services operated by Northern Rail. Destinations include Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Colne and Burnley. Longer distance services to Liverpool Lime Street and York also use these plarforms. Platform 2 is used by TransPennine Express services also destined for Blackpool.
• Platform 3 is the main intercity northbound platform for trains to the north and Scotland, however Platform 4 is also now used as an extension to platform 3. Virgin West Coast services to Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow most often use this platform. TransPennine Express also use this platform for northbound services to their more northern destinations such as Windermere and Barrow-in-Furness.
• Platform 4 is the southbound equivalent of platform 3, however it is frequently used for northbound services as an extension to Platform 3. Virgin Trains services operate to many destinations on the West Coast Main Line, giving Preston links with Birmingham, London Euston, Crewe and Stafford. Some Southbound TransPennine Express services also use this platform, although they tend to use Platforms 5 and 6 more than 4, usually destined for Manchester and Manchester Airport.
• Platforms 5 and 6 are used as an extension of platform 4, although due to their reversible nature, all three can accommodate northbound trains. Virgin Trains destined for London usually arrive and depart from Platform 6.
• Platforms 3c and 4c are bay platforms at the south end of the station, between platforms 3 and 4. Local services to Ormskirk often use these bay platforms. These are also used for stabling multiple units or locomotives, and trains that are forced to terminate prematurely so to cause minimal distruption and no platform alterations for other trains.

• A through-line passes platform 7 (sometimes referred to by railway staff as platform 9, its former number) on the eastern side of the station. It is rarely used as a passenger platform and contains bicycle racks and luggage lockers. The former platform 2 at Preston, which had long been closed to passengers and was used as a mail terminal, was temporarily used for passenger services in 2004 due to engineering works on the eastern side of the station. It was numbered platform 0. The platform was also used for the temporary shuttle service to the 2012 Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Course, during which time the platform was known simply as 'RES'.

Virgin Trains operate one train per hour to both London Euston and Birmingham New Street, whilst services from Birmingham serve Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley station alternately every hour, and services from Euston head to Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow.

TransPennine Express operate services as part of their "TransPennine North West" operations, running trains between Manchester Airport and Blackpool North, Barrow-in-Furness, Windermere or the Scottish termini. Their role as semi-fast services mean that they often miss out smaller intermediate stations along their routes.

Northern Rail is the major user of Preston Station, with services to Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, York, Blackpool, the Cumbrian Coast and even destinations as far south as Buxton. Northern Rail also operate services along the Ormskirk branch line six days a week.

First ScotRail operate their "Highland" Caledonian Sleeper service with a call at Preston to and from the Scottish Highlands. They are the only services through the station not operated by the three companies listed above. London Midland's single evening peak service from Birmingham New Street no longer operates, having been withdrawn at the end of the 2007-08 timetable.