Atherton Bag Lane railway station served an area of Atherton

Atherton, Greater Manchester

Atherton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire. It is east of Wigan, north-northeast of Leigh, and northwest of Manchester...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

 in what was then Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England. It was located on the Bolton and Leigh Railway

Bolton and Leigh Railway

The Bolton and Leigh Railway was the first public railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It opened in 1828 for goods.-History:...

 line which ran from Bolton, Great Moor Street Station

Bolton Great Moor Street railway station

Bolton Great Moor Street railway station was the first railway station in Bolton, opened on 11 June 1831 by the Bolton and Leigh Railway. Originally named simply Bolton, it was renamed Bolton Great Moor Street in October 1849...

 to Leigh Station

Westleigh railway station

Westleigh or West Leigh station was a station in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England onthe Bolton and Leigh Railway line. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire...

 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...

 and later to Kenyon Junction

Kenyon Junction railway station

Kenyon Junction was a junction railway station at Kenyon on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Bolton and Leigh Railway near Culcheth in Warrington, England. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire. The station opened in 1831 and closed to passengers on 2 January 1961...

.

History

Opened by the Bolton and Leigh Railway it became part of the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

, the station joined the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

 in 1923. It passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, only to be closed by the British Transport Commission

British Transport Commission

The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...

 six years later.

Service