The station was closed on 2 May 1938 along with Lea Road railway station to the east, but was reopened on 8 April 1940 to serve the adjacent industrial complex.[2][3]
Lancashire County Council has pledged to construct a new station at nearby Cottam which may require the closure of Salwick as referred to at page 38 of the Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan.[4]
Services
Salwick is served by only three trains towards Preston and three towards Blackpool a day, but it is not a formal request stop; trains are timetabled to stop there. In the December 2022 timetable the three westbound calls are provided by one service to Blackpool South in the morning and two in the evening, and eastbound by two services to Preston in the morning and one in the evening.
It is used by very few passengers (as low as 1,404 in 2018–19), but provides a commuter service for the workers at the nearby SpringfieldsWestinghouse nuclear fuel production complex.
Trains do not call at Salwick on Sundays.
Modernisation
The modernisation and electrification of the Preston to Blackpool North line, and hence the station, was announced in December 2009.[5] The modernisation included rebuilding and raising the road bridge in the station vicinity for necessary electrification clearance and completely new signalling of the entire line[6] along with rationalisation of the lines and removal of the spur into the nuclear facility nearby. The removal of the signal box along with four others along the line was included as part of the works.[7][8] This resulted in a total blockade of the line as far as Kirkham and thus including Salwick station from 11 November 2017 until 29 January 2018.[9][10]
Taylor, Stuart (1997). Journeys by Excursion Train: Preston to Blackpool (Central). Scenes from the Past. Foxline Publishing. pp. 44–45. ISBN1-870119-51-7.
