Northwich railway station serves the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England. The station has two platforms and is located on the Mid-Cheshire line southwest of Manchester Piccadilly. History The first railway to reach the town was the Cheshire Midland Railway (CMR) route from , which opened to traffic on 1 January 1863. The CMR was one of the constituent routes of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) from its formation, and the WCR was built by the CLC. The original CMR terminus station in Northwich was likely the building that became the goods station but was replaced early, in 1869, as the continuing line towards Hartford was being constructed as part of the West Cheshire Railway (WCR). Further lines to via Middlewich (opened in November 1867 by the London and North Western Railway), Helsby (the West Cheshire Railway, opened in 1869) and a short goods branch to Winnington (also opened in 1869) would complete the network of routes serving the area, with being served from May 1875. As a result, Northwich station was served by no fewer than four different pre-grouping railway companies. The LNWR also operated a number of its Sandbach & Crewe trains forward from here to via Greenbank and the curve down to the West Coast Main Line at Hartford Junction. The station expanded as the railway grew and by 1910 there were three platform faces, a bay for loading cattle, extensive goods sidings with a five-ton crane and a goods station. The CMR built a two-lane engine shed and turntable in 1869, the shed was doubled in size in 1877 and rebuilt around 1948 before closing to steam engines in 1968 and diesel in 1982. Services were available to a variety of destinations, in 1872 most of the services were mainly local with nine daily trains each way to Manchester, both via the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) and via , , through services were available to Derby and London St Pancras. Additional destinations were gradually added as they became available including Chester, Liverpool Central, Manchester Central, Sheffield and London Kings Cross. Following the 1923 Grouping, Northwich remained a joint station (the CLC being jointly vested in the LNER & LMS and the LMS taking over the Sandbach branch trains). Services to Acton Bridge ended during World War 2, but the primary routes to Chester, Crewe & Manchester continued in use up to and after