The station at
Howe Bridge, in common with other stations on the
Manchester to Wigan Line, was opened by the
London and North Western Railway on 1 September 1864. At a junction to the west of
Tyldesley railway station, the line to
Wigan North Western railway station headed north west via Chowbent, Hindley and Platt Bridge to Springs Branch near Wigan. The timber built Chowbent Station was situated on an embankment accessed by steps and was renamed Howe Bridge in 1901. The station joined the
London Midland and Scottish Railway during the
Grouping in 1923. It passed to the
London Midland Region of British Railways on
nationalisation in 1948. It closed on 20 July 1959.
Coal deposits were the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's supporters included many local colliery owners and industrialists. A connection to
Fletcher, Burrows and Company's
Chanters Colliery was provided by the LNWR to the east of the station. Colliery locomotives would sometimes work through the station. ==References==