Kirkham and Wesham railway station
Kirkham and Wesham 
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Kirkham and Wesham railway station in 2008
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| Location | |
| Place | Kirkham |
| Local authority | Fylde |
| Coordinates | 53°47′12″N 2°52′56″W / 53.7868°N 2.8823°WCoordinates: 53°47′12″N 2°52′56″W / 53.7868°N 2.8823°W |
| Grid reference | SD419326 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | KKM |
| Managed by | Northern |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | E |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 0.241 million |
| 2012/13 |
0.247 million |
| 2013/14 |
 0.242 million |
| 2014/15 |
0.245 million |
| 2015/16 |
0.258 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Preston and Wyre Joint Railway |
| Pre-grouping | L&YR / LNWR (joint) |
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
| 16 July 1840 | Opened as Kirkham |
| 1890 | Rebuilt |
| 1906/7 | Renamed Kirkham and Wesham |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kirkham and Wesham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Kirkham and Wesham railway station serves the Lancashire towns of Kirkham and Wesham, in England. It is managed by Northern, who operate most of the passenger services that call there.
There are two platforms, and fairly obvious signs of the former size of the station by way of disused sidings areas and blocked-off arches. The station ticket office is at street level with a wide staircase leading down to the platforms. Originally a cast iron and glass roof covered the platforms similar to Poulton-le-Fylde station. This was removed in the 1960s.
Fast lines still run from Kirkham North Junction (located a half a mile to the west of the station) to what was known as Kirkham South Junction - just east of the station allowing through trains to pass without running through the platforms. These being the last vestige of the four track (2 fast and 2 slow lines, arranged from the north boundary of the railway Up Fast, Down Fast, Up Slow, Down Slow) railway that ran from Preston to Kirkham North Junction. The signalbox at Kirkham North Junction was opened in 1903 and had over 70 levers and was worked by two signalmen and a train recorder. A framed summary in the box detailed the total number of train movements there in a 24-hour period in July 1936 as 656 - the vast majority of these would have been connected with the Blackpool holiday trade.
The station, opened in 1840, was originally located to the west of Station Road and named Kirkham Station. In 1890, it was rebuilt on the east side of the road and later renamed Kirkham and Wesham. Historically the "Wrangway Brook", beside which the railway was laid, has always been the boundary between Kirkham and Wesham, and the station buildings are all situated in Kirkham.
Two tracks were built on the northern side of the line for a platform planned but never built due to the outbreak of World War II.
Kirkham Station signalbox which was located in between the Up (Salwick bound) Fast and the Down Fast line was demolished during resignalling operations in 1977. The same scheme also abolished Treales signalbox.
To the west of the station, Kirkham North Junction is where the suburban branch line to Blackpool South follows the Fylde coast through Lytham, Ansdell and Fairhaven, St Annes on Sea; the main line to Blackpool North proceeds via Poulton. Between 1903 and 1965 there was a third express line, the "Marton Line", which went straight to Blackpool South and beyond to Blackpool Central. This junction involved a flyover to allow Preston bound trains to access the Up Fast line from the Marton line. Although the Marton line closed in 1965, the disused flyover bridge was not removed until the 1980s.
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Wikipedia