v t e Manchester to Wigan Line
Legend
West Coast Main Line to Preston Wigan North Western to Liverpool Lime Street via St Helens to Standish via Whelley Loop West Coast Main Line Platt Bridge to Warrington Bank Quay   to Wigan Central and Whelley Loop Bickershaw & Abram to Glazebrook via Lowton St Mary's Plank Lane   to Kenyon Junction Hindley Green via Pennington   Atherleigh to Kenyon Junction via Pennington to Bolton Great Moor Street via Chequerbent Leigh Howe Bridge Tyldesley Junction Tyldesley Ellenbrook to Bolton Great Moor Street via Walkden Low Level to Kenyon Junction via Chat Moss Worsley Patricroft Monton Green to Clifton Junction Eccles Junction Eccles to Manchester Exchange or Manchester Victoria

Howe Bridge railway station, originally Chowbent station, is a former railway station in Atherton, Greater Manchester. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire.

History

The station at Howe Bridge, in common with other stations on the Manchester to Wigan Line, was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 1 September 1864.^[1] At a junction to the west of Tyldesley railway station, the line to Wigan North Western railway station headed north west via Chowbent, Hindley and Platt Bridge to Springs Branch near Wigan. The timber built Chowbent Station was situated on an embankment accessed by steps and was renamed Howe Bridge in 1901.^[2] The station joined the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping in 1923. It passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. It closed on 20 July 1959.^[2]

Coal deposits were the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's supporters included many local colliery owners and industrialists.^[3] A connection to Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Chanters Colliery was provided by the LNWR to the east of the station. Colliery locomotives would sometimes work through the station.^[4]