 Until the 1980s Pendleton was one of the more important stations on the Bolton-Manchester line, one of only two stations with a Sunday service.The nearby Salford Crescent railway station, which opened in 1987, however, took much of the passenger traffic away from Pendleton station, sending it into terminal decline.In 1988 services to Bolton were withdrawn (with the closure of the Brindle Heath to Agecroft Jcn chord) leaving Pendleton served by Atherton line trains only.