Rochdale railway station is a multi-modal transport hub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It consists of a Northern-operated heavy rail station on the Caldervale Line, and an adjoining light rail stop on Metrolink's Oldham and Rochdale Line. The original heavy-rail element of the station was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1839 (for economical reasons) to the south of Rochdale town centre. The Metrolink element opened in February 2013. Further changes to the station are planned as part of the Northern Hub rail-enhancement scheme. History Heavy rail The town's first station, which opened in 1839, was adjacent to Moss Lane and located around 300 yards (270 m) east of the present one. The single storey structure was replaced by the current depot in April 1889, being too small to handle the increasing traffic levels on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's main line between Leeds & Manchester and the associated branch lines to Bury (1848), Oldham (1863) and Bacup (1881) that had subsequently been opened. The present station previously served lines to (via Bury, closed in October 1970) and Bacup (closed June 1947) as well as the lines still in existence. It had eight platforms (four through platforms and four bays) and two entrances, one on Maclure Road and another on Miall Street. In 1979 the station was reduced to three platforms (with the closure and abandonment of the eastern island platform and its bays), and the Miall Street entrance was closed. Passengers thereafter had to walk through a subway from the Maclure Road entrance and climb stairs to the main concourse, which includes a ticket office and snack bar. Currently, only the two through platforms are regularly used: the former Oldham bay platform is still available but is normally only for stabling empty stock or turning back late-running trains from the Todmorden direction. Terminating trains from Manchester and beyond use the stub of the former Oldham branch (which has been converted into a turnback siding) to reverse clear of the main line. Signalling at the station has also been modernised, with colour lights controlled from Castleton replacing the semaphores previously in use (the old signal box at Rochdale had to be demolished in 2011 as it stood in the alignment of the planned Metrolink flyover). In 2015, construction on a fourth railway platform began. The 135m-long bay platform was completed in 2016 and is used to relieve congestion