Preston and Wyre Joint Railway

The Preston and Wyre Railway was a railway in Lancashire, England, connecting Preston on the West Coast Main Line to the port town of Fleetwood at the mouth of the River Wyre. It opened in 1840, originally built to serve dock traffic and steamer connections, but passenger demand proved stronger than expected and the company built branch lines to the growing seaside resorts of Blackpool and Lytham, which opened in 1846. The railway came under joint ownership of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway, becoming known as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway, and its network grew into a major carrier of holiday traffic as Blackpool expanded into a major seaside destination, carrying large seasonal crowds from industrial towns across Lancashire and Yorkshire. After 1960 the rise of motor coach travel eroded the railway's passenger business. Blackpool Central station closed at the end of the 1964 illuminations season, and most branch lines closed in the years that followed, including the Fleetwood passenger service in 1970. The core route has since seen a revival, with electrification of the Blackpool North line bringing through trains to and from London and Manchester Airport starting in 2018. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/