Darwen railway station serves Darwen, a town in Lancashire, England. It was opened in 1847 by the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe & West Yorkshire Railway, which was subsequently taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway twelve years later. It is now served by Northern Trains services on the Ribble Valley Line from Rochdale/Manchester Victoria to Blackburn and into Clitheroe. Darwen is set amongst the hills of East Lancashire. Arriving from or departing towards Bolton involves journeying through the long Sough Tunnel, some 2, 015 yd (1, 843 m) in length. The station has two platforms. It is one of only two passing points on the otherwise single track Blackburn to Bolton part of the route, but trains normally cross here only in the morning and evening peak periods. The loop was extended in length by a mile (1.6 km) either side of the station during a six-week-long engineering blockade in July & August 2015 to increase capacity on the line and eventually allow a half-hourly service to operate (as specified in the new Northern franchise agreement, due to come into effect in April 2016). The station is currently unstaffed, with waiting shelters on each platform; step-free access is available to both. Ticket machines are available, along with a long-line P.A system and passenger information screens to convey train running information.
