Blackpool North railway station is the main station serving the seaside resort of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the main Blackpool branch line and is northwest of Preston. The station was opened in its present form in 1974, and succeeded a previous station a few hundred yards away on Talbot Road which had first opened in 1846 and had been rebuilt in 1898. The present station is based on the 1938 concrete canopy which covered the entrance to the former excursion platforms of the old station. Blackpool's other station, Blackpool South, is situated in the south of the town, with services towards and , and does not connect to Blackpool North. Blackpool North has regular services to Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Wigan, Preston, Blackburn, Leeds and York. There are six intercity trains a day to London Euston via . There is one train per week Sunday only to Carlisle via the Ribble Valley and the Settle-Carlisle Line during the summer timetable. History The first station opened on 29 April 1846 as Blackpool, renamed Blackpool Talbot Road in 1872, and was first rebuilt in 1898. The rebuilt station consisted of two parallel train sheds and a terminal building, in Dickson Road between Talbot Road and Queen Street. Platforms 1 to 6 were located in the sheds, with a larger island between platforms 1 and 2 to accommodate taxis. In addition, there was effectively, in all but name, a separate station at the east end of Queen Street, with open "excursion" platforms 7 to 16, used only in summer. The station was recommended for closure in the Beeching Report (1963), but following lobbying by Blackpool Corporation it was Blackpool Central—Blackpool's other centrally-located station, but whose site was better-suited for re-development—which closed in 1964. The main station buildings, train shed and platforms were decommissioned and demolished in 1974, and the 1938 excursion platform canopy building was refurbished to become the new main station. Electrification In November 2010, it was announced that the lines between and Blackpool would be electrified, along with the line between Manchester and Preston. This resulted in the semaphore signalling at the station being replaced by modern colour lights controlled from the WCML North Rail Operating Centre in Manchester and the station track and platform layout being altered, with the eight curved platforms reduced to six and on a straighter alignment than previously. The project was due