Oldham Mumps railway station opened on 1 November 1847 to serve the town of Oldham. The station was a primary station located on the Oldham Loop Line 71⁄2 mi (12 km) north east of Manchester Victoria operated and managed by Northern Rail.
The name of the station is taken from its situation within the Mumps area of Oldham, which itself probably derived from the archaic word "mumper", slang for a beggar.
The station was reached across the dual-carriageway Oldham bypass, a difficult walk from the town centre. A pedestrian underpass led to the island platform, where there was a ticket office.
The station closed due to the conversion of the line to Metrolink on 3 October 2009 and, by May 2010, had been completely demolished. The station canopy has been saved. It was bought by the East Lancashire Railway after a successful public fund-raising campaign. It is hoped that the canopy will be installed at Bury Bolton Street.
In June 2010, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) announced that as part of the conversion of the former Oldham loop, it would submit a planning application for a temporary Metrolink terminus at Oldham Mumps, close to the site of the former railway station. Services to the temporary terminus commenced on Wednesday 13 June 2012
The temporary Metrolink stop is reached by crossing Oldham Way or can be accessed by the free Metroshuttle service, which links the stop with the town centre and bus station.
A permanent stop will be provided by 2014 on the site of the former B&Q store. It will be a tram/bus interchange and is part of the future Metrolink extension through Oldham town centre.
Read more about Oldham Mumps Railway Station: Tram Services, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or station:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It’s all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)