Preston railway station in Preston, Lancashire, England, is a major station on the West Coast Main…read moreLine, roughly half-way between London Euston and Glasgow Central - it is around 200 miles or 2 1/4 hours or so from both - that being said is right in the middle of the two, it is quite an important station, operated by Virgin Trains but I'd even go as far to say this is one of the worst Category B stations I've visited (On the contrast I find the likes of Brighton and Stockport to be the best) The station is mainly used by Virgin Trains who provide routes to destinations such as London, Glasgow and Blackpool but is also used by other services such as Northern (Slow train into Manchester and Greater Manchester towns as well as offering services to Blackpool, York and Liverpool) and TPExpress (fast services into Manchester Piccadilly in 36 minutes, Manchester Airport and Glasgow/Edinburgh. Caledonian Sleeper trains also pass through here, once per day in both directions (London/Scotland) For a nine platform station, it still feels pretty small, unlike virtually every other main train station which is the main one of a city/category B and above there isn't a WHSmith - nor is there much at the station nonetheless other than a few coffees stands with little seating, and a Starbucks which couldn't serve food OR COFFEE! (Come on... are they called Starbucks tea or Starbucks coffee?) The ticket area is pretty small and it does close even at busy times in the evening - meaning it can be hard to find a member of staff. When I did find a staff member they did seem friendly enough even though they had thousands of football fans singing after watching Manchester City defeat Preston North End 3-0 in the third round of the Carabao Cup. It is in a good location for the centre, being only a short walk away from the shopping area, and two stops on the bus from the bus station with cabs outside the station. 2* - Poor facilities in the station but a good location, with friendly enough staff for the extra star.

A great small railway station with a few open ticket offices, a spacious newsstand and a…read morerefreshment stand. Clear information boards which make orientation very easy. Going to work by train doesn´t necessarily mean you have to run straight to the cleaner´s the way you do it in the Czech Republic :D Prima malé nádraží s pár otevřenými pokladnami, prostorným novinovým stánkem a stánkem s občerstvením. Přehledné tabule, snadná orientace. Jezdit vlakem do práce neznamená skočit šipku do čistírny tak, jak je to typické v Česku :D

Wigan North Western is one of two stations serving Wigan town centre, the station is managed by…read moreAvanti West Coast, who run services from this station on the Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley - London Euston line, which provides services into Scotland, Birmingham, London and others. The station is also served by Northern, with limited services by TPExpress: this means you can also get into other towns and cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, St Helen's and Blackpool. The station is fairly basic, but it is only a small category B station with 5 active platforms, an underpass with lift/stair access connects the platforms. I was surprised that this station didn't have ticket-gates, and there were no staff until getting to the platform, but the staff did seem friendly and happy to help, there was also a good amount of seats and a waiting room in the place, where you can wait before boarding a service. The facilities inside the station are minimal, but with it being a short walk away from the town centre (I like the map outside which gives you a rough time and direction to get to the DW Stadium and town centre), this isn't too bad. Bus services also stop outside. 3* - Nothing too excited, pretty average station, which provides a good number of services which is better than many towns of a similar size to Wigan gets.

I would like to prays the staff on duty today I was on a train to preston when there was a incident…read moreon on a train the staff had to put up with a lot of abuse from a passenger but they all worked so hard to make the train safe for all the passengers well done

Bolton Railway Station is OK, it is a good local railway station for Bolton residents and…read moreconnecting into Bolton town centre, being just a short walk away from the town's shops, and even closer to both a large Sainsbury's and Morrisons supermarket, virtually across the way. The fact it is right next to the bus station, forming an interchange is handy. The staff at the ticket office seem happy to help, and the station is pretty clean overall, while it does get pretty cold, they do have a waiting room which is handy, the waiting room on the Manchester bound platforms, however, didn't seem to have a board with train times, which means it would be pretty easy to stay there too long and miss the train. There are no direct services into London from here, odds are you'll need to go into another Greater Manchester station such as Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport or Wigan, and carry on from there. The station is operated by Northern, they operate the main bulk of services from this station, however, many TPExpress services pass through the station on its' Manchester-Edinburgh route, however, this operates on a set-down only basis where you can not travel from Manchester-Bolton in either direction, but you can travel from Bolton on this service heading north, for example to Preston and Edinburgh. Considering it's a pretty small station, they probably have the friendliest staff who are reliable and work hard, which I find quite rare in small stations, which are often understaffed and with the staff which do work there, not seeming to care, so it's good to see the service here is good for any station, especially one ranked C1. 4* - Minimal facilities within the station, but clean overall with easy access into Bolton Interchange, taxi rank (outside the station) town centre and supermarkets to continue on with your journey makes it pretty good. If only the lifts were reliable and weren't constantly breaking down! UPDATE: Due to multiple recent issues at this station including the lifts breaking down on three occasions in the past month) and the toilets being out of order (even though the staff aren't aware of this) mean this station is becoming much less pleasurable to travel from, warranting a downgrade to a rather generous three.

What reviews say about Bolton station are very true. I have…read morean unsual memory of Bolton Station. Got on train at Chorley return ticket to Horwich. Told which train to get on by staion attendant. Fantasic, train went flying past Horwich and had to get off at Bolton. So all in all around a 15 minute stop over on a Bolton Platform. Was very Ghost Town like at least for that 15 minutes. And I'm sure that the attendant I spoke to on there was Boris Karloff. All I needed was a fog machine.

Wigan Wallgate is in a good location within the town centre, one of two train station in Wigan,…read morealongside the larger Wigan North Western. The location is good, just a couple minutes away from the town's main shops. All services are run by Northern Trains who operate the station, mainly serving "local" destinations including Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn and Southport. The station facilities are minimal but it does have a waiting area, where you can keep warm ahead of getting a train. The station is clean in most areas. The staff were OK. Step-free station so they do have lift access etc, I like the station from the outside as it looks pretty unique and different as you can see from photos. 3*

Very little to be said other than that it is a typical train station. Seemed quite clean but…read morecertainly in need of modernising. As it is only a small station there is little confusion when it comes to platforms and the staff as with other stations are quite helpful

I called at Hindley Station on the way to Wigan Wallgate on a Northern Service from Manchester…read moreVictoria, and reacted in awe at the beautiful gardens at this station, making it more of a national park than a train station, put together by volunteers it helps make this station a nice place to visit and relax, even if you're not catching a train and helps make actually getting a train more pleasant. This station has 2 platforms which are in use, with trains mainly going into Wigan and Manchester, and the garden on Platform 1 is great, going in the direction of Wigan and then onto Southport, which was the route of my Northern service. Hindley is one of the local Stations in Wigan, so you can't expect too much from a "local" station, but for a local station this is great, and even the larger stations such as Wigan North Western and Wallgate could learn a few from Hindley! Hindley is also wheelchair accessible with ramp access making it a good place to catch a train without being forced to get in a taxi to your next stop, and it is nice to see this local station having step-free access as some stations close to me in Manchester, such as Mills Hill which is also run and operated by Mills Hill does not. As a train station, they isn't lots of services here but the work on the grounds makes this a really nice station to relax, and even could be a place to visit without catching a train, thanks to the fantastic work by volunteers, so definitely deserves a solid 3 stars, sadly I can't go any higher as its' main purpose is a train station and for this, it is just basic and barely average.

One ofthe nicer stations on the manchester -Southport line…read more With a beautiful garden :) Its nice to waitfor a train for a change wharlst admiring the 'friends of hindley stations' handy work

It's an older, large station that is extremely busy but also easy to navigate to get to your…read moretransportation on time. Though it's older, it's clean with several places to grab food or coffee. Signage is really good and makes things easier trying to get through a big crowd to your platform.

Very convenient and effective train station where you can take bullet trains to London from…read moreManchester. Shoppes and what not fill up the area and tickets are very convenient to purchase on the app Trainline. Highly recommended!

Perfect for going into Manchester Picc/Oxford Rd and also great for going to the airport. also…read moregreat location being just off the A34 and within walking distance to Gatley village which is rather posh. Ticket machines and ticket office are also quite helpful.

Bromley Cross is only a small village in Bolton and many would be amiss thinking it was cut off…read morefrom anything urban, however they'd be wrong! This train station is located right in the heart of the village, and although it only has 2 platforms, it provides a direct train to Manchester Victoria or the other way to Clitheroe. It's not that common that small outer villages have such direct commuting ability and that can often add an extra 15-20 minutes to your commute each day, changing at bigger stations. Well not Bromley Cross! Enjoy those extra 15 minutes in bed!