Notes: Latchford Station was situated on the LNWR Ditton Junction to Skelton Junction Line. In the 1890's the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal necessitated the diversion and realignment of a number of railway lines in the Warrington area in order that they could cross the canal at the required 75 feet elevation.

The former Warrington and Stockport Railway opened on 1.11.1853 between Warrington and Altincham was one such line. The original line was at a fairly level elevation and a station was provided at Latchford called Latchford & Grappenhall Road which opened with the line and closed on 9.8.1893

The new alignment took the line to a high elevation and over a large girder bridge called Latchford Bridge. Once it opened on 9.7.1893 the original alignment was severed by the canal construction. Part of it was kept as sidings and part was used by the canals own industrial railway. The Manchester ship canal opened in 1894.

Latchford Station

A number of local services used various parts of the line with most through trains being between Ditton Junction and Manchester Oxford Road. Some trains did run from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester but they were not very frequent. This was the service that continued up to the end of passenger services and in later years it was provided by a tank engine and push/pull sets of coaches.

There was a brief interlude when DMUs were tried in the late 1950's but by the early 1960s the service was back in the hands of the push pull sets.

Latchford Station closed to passengers on 10.9.1962 when all regular passenger services on the line ceased. The line continued in use as a busy freight artery particularly for coal heading west towards Fiddlers Ferry Power Station and Garston Docks. Even in the early 1980's there were 60 trains per day booked to use the line east of Warrington. However expensive repairs were needed to the bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal and as many trains could take an alternative route the line closed east of Latchford. The last booked trains ran on 7.7.1985

Today a single track still remains hidden in the tree growth. In April 2005 the station forecourt was being developed with an apartment block.

To see the other stations on the Ditton Junction to Skelton Junction Line click on the station name: Ditton, Widnes South, Cuerdley, Fidlers Ferry & Penketh, Sankey Bridges, Warrington Bank Quay Low Level, Warrington Arpley, Thelwall, Lymm, Heatley & Warburton,
Dunham Massey & Broadheath.