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Ditton
Location
Place	Ditton
Area	Halton, Cheshire
Grid reference	SJ487846
Operations
Pre-grouping	London & North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway; London Midland Region of British Railways; Railtrack
Platforms	5
History
1 July 1852	Opened
1 May 1871	Resited 230m west and renamed (Ditton Junction)
7 May 1973	Renamed (Ditton)
29 May 1994	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
	Closed railway stations in Britain; A B C D-F G H-J K-L M-O P-R S T-V W-Z
	UK Railways Portal

Ditton railway station, earlier known as Ditton Junction, was in the town of Widnes Ditton in Cheshire, England on Hale Road on the border between Ditton and Halebank. The station, on the London-Liverpool line, was closed to passengers on 27 May 1994.

On 17 September 1912 15 people were killed when the 17:30 train from Chester derailed while crossing from the fast slow lines at the station.

Main article: Ditton Junction rail crash

It was at this former railway station (being one of two stations in Widnes at the time) that Paul Simon reputedly composed "Homeward Bound," a hit for Simon and Garfunkel in 1966. It is reputed that Paul Simon wrote the song when he was stranded overnight on a platform in 1965, after mis-reading the timetable. A plaque commemorates this event at the present Widnes station (formerly known as Widnes North).

The station was the first to be closed by Railtrack following the privatisation of British Rail in 1994. It had been in decline since the 1960s and 1970s with the steady withdrawal of services; that to St Helens Central (the Ditton Dodger) had been first to go in 1951, followed by those to Manchester Oxford Road in 1962, and to Chester which continued to North Wales via the North Wales Coast Line in 1975, leaving the station with an hourly shuttle between Crewe and Liverpool. By the late 1980s even this service had begun to omit Ditton from its schedule and dwindling passenger numbers eventually led to its closure.^[1]

[edit] Future

Halton Borough Council has protected the site of the station as well as the Halton Curve from development prejudicial to their reuse as part of the rail network; the Council notes that "there is an opportunity for the re-opening of this station, particularly with the possible increase in patronage from major industrial, commercial and housing developments in the area. It may be possible to use the station as a park and ride facility."^[2] The alignment of the "Shell Green Route" which linked Ditton with Widnes South and Warrington is also protected.

[edit] References

Coordinates: 53°21′21″N 2°46′20″W / 53.35578°N 2.77221°W / 53.35578; -2.77221

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[0] Subterranea Britannica, "Ditton".

[1] Halton Borough Council, Unitary Development Plan, Chapter 6, TP3.

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