St Annes Railway Station

You’ll find St Annes railway station in an accessible spot right in the town centre. It’s proper name is ‘St Annes on the Sea Railway Station’ and the postcode is FY8 2JE.

Access it from St Andrews Road North – just off the main high street (St Annes Road West). Follow the road round and the station is just before Sainsbury’s.

Trains running through St Annes railway station travel between Blackpool South and Preston. The service is generally hourly from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays the service extends to Blackburn and Colne. Currently Northern East Lancashire Line trains serve this route.

Take the weight off your feet in the waiting shelter or use the bench seating.

Friends of St Annes Stations

Friends of St Annes Stations is a group of volunteers who want to see St Annes station and Squires Gate Stations look attractive and welcoming. They’re important gateways to the town.

Community Rail Week

It was Community Rail Week from 22-26 May 2023.

2023 marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of St Anne’s station and the Friends of the station organised several events throughout the year as part of the celebrations. They depicted the number ‘150’ in flowers and the outside of the station was completely repainted by Northern Rail. A new flowerbed was created and a time capsule buried.

All week along the South Fylde Line (Preston to Blackpool South) they’re recruiting volunteers to paint the kerbs and railings in preparation for the 150th anniversary celebrations. Here’s a few of the volunteers hard at work.

For more information contact Tony Ford: tonyford19@gmail.com

Brightening up Christmas!

2020 was a difficult year, so the Friends worked hard to brighten up the station to spread festive cheer. Wooden trees, made from discarded and damaged pallets, were displayed at the station.

The ‘festive’ feel with 20 trees of different shapes and sizes was amusing and interesting passengers and other station users.

Some volunteers have been making decorations and baubles, again made from wood offcuts. Very effective and festive!

Well done to all of the volunteers for your hard work. See them in action in this short video –

Working Together

These Community Volunteers look after the local station in conjunction with Northern, ISS and Network Rail.

Network Rail owns most of Britain’s 2,507 stations and is responsible for their structural repair and renewal. It also operates 17 of the largest stations. It leases the remaining stations (St. Anne’s on the Sea Station is one of them) to train operating companies (TOCs).

TOCs take responsibility for day-to-day maintenance and operations, such as selling tickets and providing travel information. TOCs have to comply with basic station requirements set out in their franchise agreements with the Office of Rail and Road.

Although the station is leased to Northern Rail, they in turn sub-contract to ISS. They maintain and clean it. However, the Community Volunteers are vital in maintaining an attractive, clean, well-managed station. It encourages non-users, makes people using the station feel safe and shows existing customers that their train operator cares about their personal comfort and well-being.  

Join in!

Why not join the group, you’ll always be welcome. Get in touch with Tony Ford, the Chairman, to find out more.

• Join Friends of St Annes Stations on Facebook

The Friends also work in partnership with St Anne’s In Bloom and Friends of the Crescent Gardens in order to make St Annes a Garden Town by the Sea.

History of St Annes Railway Station

Thanks to Nick Moore and his excellent History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre for some of this information.

The Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Company’s station, between Lytham St Annes and Blackpool, opened as a halt in November 1870 as Cross Slack. Then in January 1875 the name changed to St Annes Railway Station.

Cross Slack is named after the Norse ‘Slakki’ referring to a shallow dell, and took its name from the boundary cross. Erected by Richard FitzRoger in about 1199 to mark the limits of the Lytham Parish, granted to him by the monks of Durham. The cross was erected at the northern edge of the village of Kilgrimol.

The biggest event at the tiny hamlet of Cross Slack was 2 February 1876. The first sod was dug for the new town of St Anne’s on the Sea.

On 31 March 1925 a new station opened at St Annes – attached to it was a Co-operative Fuel Department.

Here’s St Anne’s station as it was many years ago. The pattern in the gate posts is still visible on the posts outside the Town House pub opposite.

You can still see remains of the Up Side platform on site today. It went in 1986 when the Kirkham line was reduced to single track.

In 1985, most of the station was demolished and rebuilt once again. This time to make way for a Safeway supermarket and car park (now Sainsbury’s). Frank Jones, the Area Passenger Manager, officially opened the new, smaller ticket office on 30 September 1986.