TRANSPORT IN THE FYLDE BY ROAD, RAIL, SEA AND AIR 63 



On July 1st, 1908, the Garstang and Knott End Railway Company was 

 bought up by the Knott End Railway Company and the line extended a further 

 four-and-a-quarter miles to Knott End. 



The London Midland and Scottish Railway. 



One result of the Railways Act of 1921 was to bring the whole of the railways 

 serving the Fylde area under one management, namely, the London Midland 

 and Scottish Railway. This vast organisation has done much in recent years 

 to foster the development of the Fylde and its coastal resorts. There are few 

 of its 2,500 passenger stations throughout the country which do not display 

 in some prominent position a pictorial appeal to the public to visit Blackpool, 

 Cleveleys, Lytham, St. Annes, or other places in the Fylde. Since the 

 amalgamation of the railways much has been done, and continues to be done, 

 to speed up traffic and to provide better comfort for passengers. 



Outstanding among the many fine express trains serving Blackpool at the 

 present time is the ' Blackpool and Fylde Coast Express,' leaving London 

 (Euston) at 5-10 p.m. every week-day except Saturday, and arriving Blackpool 

 (Central) at 9-53 p.m. In the reverse direction this train, which is composed of 

 stock of the latest design, leaves Blackpool (Central) at 8-25 a.m., and reaches 

 Euston at 12-50 p.m. The final stage of the journey of 158 miles from Crewe 

 . to Euston is run in 154 minutes at an average start to stop speed of 61 .6 m.p.h. 



The number of passengers reaching Blackpool and the adjacent resorts by rail 

 now reaches the huge total of nearly six millions annually, excluding the many 

 thousands of journeys made by season ticket holders who have taken up 

 residence in the district. During the week preceding August Bank Holiday, 

 1935, the number of passengers passing through the station barriers exceeded 

 half-a-million, while during the period of the ' Illuminations ' — that is, after 

 the normal summer season had ended — the visitors arriving by rail were in the 

 vicinity of 750,000. 



Apart from the transport of passengers, Blackpool's thousands of residents 

 and visitors require food and the other necessaries of life. To cater for the 

 needs of the district in this respect the L.M.S. Company maintains a 

 number of well-equipped goods stations, of which that at Blackpool is being 

 re-built on modern lines. A comprehensive system of road collection and 

 delivery services links these stations with the commercial and agricultural 

 interests of the Fylde. 



Kirkham (North Junction) might aptly be termed the ' hub of the Fylde,' 

 as during a recent 24-hourly period nearly 600 trains were dealt with at the 

 signal box there, averaging one every two-and-a-half minutes. The frequency 

 was, of course, much higher during the peak periods, as in the early hours of 

 the day traffic is comparatively light. 



Tramway Systems of the Fylde. 



The latter part of the nineteenth century saw the beginning of the tramways, 

 which to-day afford such excellent local passenger services between Lytham 

 and Fleetwood, following the coast for most of the distance. 



Tramways commenced running in Blackpool itself in 1885, when, on the 

 29th September, was inaugurated what is believed to be the first electrical 



