Called the Northern Line, under Liverpool's city centre, it created a north–south crossrail. Upon re-tendering, Northern Rail failed to retain the contract, and it passed to Arriva Rail North from 1 April 2016. From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Merseyrail is a British train operating company owned by Serco-Abelio and overseen by Merseytravel. Rock Ferry railway station had been a terminus for Wirral Line services since the Mersey Railway was extended there from Green Lane in 1891. A feature was that passengers on the mainline radial routes into Lime Street from the east and south could transfer onto the Outer Loop at two parkway interchange stations completing their journey to Liverpool suburbs avoiding the need to travel into the city centre, which would also relieve pressure on Lime Street station - Liverpool South Parkway was one of these stations opening thirty years after the initial proposal. Many of the City Line stations are branded Merseyrail using Merseyrail ticketing. In 2020 a series of investments and land purchases advanced the case for a station at the site of St James in the Baltic Triangle. The Northern Line would form the western section through the city centre. ... Merseyrail Class 507, 507002, Old Roan railway station (geograph 3786852).jpg 1,024 × 683; 206 KB. Merseyrail has publicly committed to aiming to be the best train operating company in the UK. Monday-Saturday services are every 15 minutes from Liverpool to Chester, New Brighton and West Kirby, and every 30 minutes to Ellesmere Port (Monday - Sunday). Trains on the Merseyrail network at the moment are three carriages most of the time, with six car services during peak times. This section includes the most expensive part of the Outer Rail Loop - the Link Line tunnel under Liverpool city centre - and the reopened and electrified line from Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross. The new trains will be of an articulated four-car design, as opposed to the three-car units currently in service, with a significantly increased overall capacity and faster acceleration and deceleration, which gives reduced journey times. The currently disused St James railway station is located on the corner of St.James' Place and Parliament Street in the Baltic Triangle district being with closure in 1917. The project was abandoned as a working proposal by Merseytravel in the 1980s. [99][100], In December 2012 Merseytravel commissioned Network Rail to study route options and costs of connecting to Skelmersdale with Merseytravel contributing £50,000 and West Lancashire Council contributing £100,000. The City Line (marked red on the map) is operated primarily by Northern with funding from Merseytravel. Their total track length is 75 miles (121 km), with 68 stations. The terminus stations. The core of the network is formed by two dedicated electrified lines known as the Northern Line and the Wirral Line, which run underground in central Liverpool and Birkenhead. [111], Media related to Merseyrail at Wikimedia Commons, Rock Ferry to Hooton, Chester and Ellesmere Port, Extending the network via electrification, "Liverpool City Centre Plan - City Centre Planning Group, 1965", Cheshire Lines Committee Lines: North Liverpool Extension Line, Southport and Cheshire Lines Extension Railway, Garston and Liverpool Railway Explore: 10 Minutes From Hamilton Square Station, Waterloo: Where to eat and drink in the North Liverpool hotspot, Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement – July 2019, Click here for the latest COVID-19 Information. Trains from Wirral arriving via the original Mersey Railway tunnel enter the loop beneath Mann Island in Liverpool continuing in a clockwise direction through James Street, Moorfields, Lime Street and Central, returning to the Wirral via James Street station. The first train operating company awarded this franchise contract was Northern Rail, also owned by a Serco-NedRail (Abellio) joint venture. One line running south from the city centre to Hunts Cross with the second line running north from the city centre to Southport, and the branches off this line to Ormskirk and Kirkby. [27], Merseytravel has an option for a further 60 Class 777 units as part of the contract, which if exercised would see a total of 67 trains built if services are extended to new destinations such as: Helsby, Skelmersdale or Wrexham. Long and medium-distance routes would be concentrated on one mainline terminal station at Lime Street station serving the populations of Liverpool, the Wirral and beyond. The scheme was started along with the creation of Merseyrail however postponed due to cost cutting. Each route operates a train every 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday, giving a frequent interval between trains on the central section. The contract is currently being subjected to the final legal process. Numbers 3 and 4 were cancelled late in the project after some works had actually proceeded. Third rail electric/battery train trials are to be undertaken in 2020 by Merseyrail on this section of track using the new class 777 trains, which may preclude electrification. This isolated the City Line preventing integration into the full network with local services still entering mainline Lime St station, occupying platforms that could be used for long haul routes. The diesel Wigan service terminating at Sandhills station was cut back to Kirkby. This would give Skelmersdale, the second largest town in North West England without a railway service, direct access to Liverpool city centre. On reopening under the Merseyrail brand, the electrified line never reached Gateacre as it once did, terminating three stations towards the city centre at Garston. The 34-year-old appeared before magistrates on Wednesday (January 6) in connection with an incident at Liverpool Central Station … [87], The Strategic Plan for the North West, the SPNW, in 1973 envisaged that the Liverpool to Warrington line would be electrified and integrated into Merseyrail by 1991 as a part of the Northern Line. The first train operating company awarded the Mersey Rail Electrics franchise contract was MTL, originally the operating arm of the PTE, but privatised itself in 1985. The Wirral Line is shown in green on the Merseyrail map being denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. Since the postponement of the project, a number of Route Utilisation Strategy documents have mentioned reopening the North Mersey Branch line, the northern section of the loop, to form a passenger link between Bootle and Aintree with stations to serve Ford and Girobank. Wirral and City Lines interchange at Lime Street in the city centre. [58] Some would extend beyond the current area, while others would use former existing lines or track beds. Your new, state-of-the-art trains with their wide range of customer-focussed features and functions will transform how you travel. The new trains will replace the near 40-year-old class 507/508 trains Merseyrail is currently using – the oldest trains in revenue service in the UK – on its urban network. These replaced pre-war Class 502 (originally constructed by the LMS) and almost identical Class 503 EMUs. The programme of route closures in the early 1960s, known as the Beeching Axe, included the closure of two of Liverpool's mainline terminal stations, Liverpool Exchange and Liverpool Central (High Level), and one on the Wirral, Birkenhead's Woodside Station, leaving only one mainline station serving all of Merseyside at Liverpool Lime Street. This statistic shows the average age in years of the Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Ltd rolling stock between 2007/08 and 2018/19. The third line, separate from the electrified network, is named the City Line. The current fleet is now more than 30 years old and the trains are rented at a cost of £12m a year. A substantial section of the Northern Line had an additional function in completing the western section of a planned double-track electrified suburban orbital line, circling the city's outer suburbs, known as the 'Outer Rail Loop'. An attempt was made to revive the project in the mid-1980s but it was found to be not financially viable. The Edge Hill Spur was not completed due to budget cuts. [60][74] The line was considered in the Merseyside Route Utilisation Strategy document, concluding that reopening could not yet be recommended. This tunnel starts to the south of the station and rises to join the high-level tunnel. Passengers for the lines to Chester and Helsby would change trains at this station from the electric service on to mainline services, operated by steam and diesel. Two lines known as the Northern Line and the Wirral Line with each line having substantial branches compose the network. They are as follows: There have been various suggestions for ways to enlarge the Merseyrail network. Create the Outer Rail Loop; effectively a rail loop around the outer suburbs of the city using existing lines, that would also run through the city centre. A year later in 1978, the short line electrification from Walton to Kirkby extended the Merseyrail network, creating a Northern Line branch terminus and interchange station at Kirkby. [103] Network Rail expect the construction of the project to start in 2021 with the station being ready in 2023. [citation needed]. Local residents are campaigning to have the majority of containers to be transported by rail easing road congestion and pollution, which may increase rail traffic even further. The lines out of Lime Street station would become the City Line, lines out of Exchange and Central High Level the Northern Line and the line out of Central Low Level the Wirral Line. Trains head back into the Mersey Railway Tunnel to return to one of the Wirral terminus stations. [32] Other depots at Hall Road and Birkenhead Central were closed in 1997, and the former was demolished in April 2009. These are unit 507022 in 1991, after a collision, and unit 508118, which had been gutted by fire in an arson attack in Birkenhead in 2001. (, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Stadler's maintenance depot and UK headquarters, Serco and NedRailways (renamed Abellio in 2009), Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy, Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network, List of underground stations of the Merseyrail network, "Abellio Group Head Office" Group corporate website, Abellio, Utrecht, Netherlands, Undate, "Merseyrail corporate information | Merseyrail Electrics | Serco | Abellio", "Merseytravel reveals new £460m train fleet plans - with no train guards", "Stadler signs £700 million deal to replace the UK's oldest fleet on Liverpool's Merseytravel line", "All Merseyrail strikes suspended as union hails 'major breakthrough' that could finally end dispute", "Merseytravel and Stadler sign new fleet deal, but legal challenge remains", "Construction begins on Kirkdale depot to maintain new Merseyrail fleet", https://www.stadlerrail.com/en/media/article/stadler-signs-contract-build-and-maintain-52-metro-trains-liverpool-city-region/47/, "Network Rail 2009 Strategic Business Plan - Merseyrail Route 21", https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021632/http://moderngov.merseytravel.uk.net/documents/s21686/Enc.%201%20for%20Updated%20Long%20term%20Rail%20Strategy.pdf, "Andy Heath appointed new managing director of Merseyrail", "We have taken the 'misery' out of Merseyrail", "Merseyrail trains are most reliable in the UK", "Merseyrail profits gather speed to reach record levels", "Merseyrail takes 840 to court over feet on seats", "Is Merseyrail's feet on seats policy too harsh? In 1985 the line from Rock Ferry to Hooton was electrified and incorporated in the Wirral Line of Merseyrail, Hooton thus becoming a new terminus. Following the collapse of the Merseytram scheme in 2006, proposals were considered to revive the project, with the route of the tunnels currently safeguarded. The Stadler Rail trains will bring great improvements for the traveller. To create the comprehensive rapid-transit network four construction projects needed completion: Only numbers 1 and 2 listed above were constructed creating the fully electrified 3rd rail Northern and Wirral Lines. The old trains would be kept running for a further two years, until the scheduled signalling upgrade takes place in 2022. With Liverpool city having a semi-circular footprint with the city centre at the western fringe against the River Mersey, the western section of the loop would run through the city centre. The station is in a deep cutting on the operational crossrail Northern Line tunnel section between Liverpool Central Station and Brunswick Station. If dual-voltage, overhead wire/third rail trains will be used for use on all of the Merseyrail network. The City Line is a term used by the governing body Merseytravel referring to local Northern services it sponsors serving in its area operating on the Liverpool to Manchester Lines and Liverpool to Wigan Line. However, the Route Utilisation Strategy document went on to state: The reopening of a section of the Skelmersdale Branch from Upholland to Skelmersdale town centre has been proposed. The Loop and Link project was followed by a programme of expansion, electrification and new stations, which built on the greater integration and capacity provided by the new infrastructure. The network is operated by the Merseyrail train operating company. Services are less frequent than those on the Northern Line and Wirral Line, generally half-hourly on weekdays. The Northern Line is shown in blue on the Merseyrail map and denoted by the above wordmark on underground stations. [33] The Birkenhead Central depot is proposed for reopening.[34]. Shelters both towards and away from Liverpool. Mossley Hill, West Allerton, Liverpool South Parkway, Hough Green, Widnes, Warrington Central, Padgate, Birchwood, Irlam, Flixton, Urmston, Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport, Liverpool South Parkway, Warrington West, Warrington Central, Birchwood, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Mauldeth Road and East Didsbury, Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool South Parkway, Widnes, Warrington Central and Manchester Oxford Road; trains continue to Nottingham and Norwich. The electrification extending Merseyrail through to Wigan Wallgate was a long-term aspiration of Merseytravel in 2014 being identified by Network Rail as a route where electrification would enable new patterns of passenger service to operate. Edge Hill, Wavertree Technology Park, Broad Green, Roby, Huyton, Whiston, Rainhill, Lea Green, St Helens Junction, Earlestown, Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Oxford Road. Each line from the terminus stations runs through Hamilton Square underground station in Birkenhead then through the Mersey Railway Tunnel, continuing around the single track underground loop tunnel under Liverpool's city centre. Merseyrail is referred to as "Merseyrail Electrics" by National Rail Enquiries, and as "Serco/Abellio Merseyrail" by Merseytravel. Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving Liverpool, England, the surrounding Liverpool City Region, the Wirral Peninsula and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire, including a number of underground stations. The trains will be owned locally, and publically, with the £460 million project managed by Merseytravel on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. [98][99] The report proposes extending the line from Ormskirk railway station by laying 3 miles of new single track along the previous route towards Rainford Junction, at a cost estimated to be in the region of £31m. [60] Merseytravel believe that increasing the frequency of the trains will increase the levels of passengers and make the case for electrification stronger.[82]. Car park and ticket office are step free. In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies, in its Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network report, called for funding for the reopening of the line from Ormskirk to Skelmersdale as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the Beeching Axe, including seven new parkway stations. The line is mainly electrified with one branch, the Liverpool to Manchester line via Warrington, operated by diesel trains.[10][11]. The present Northern Line underground station at Liverpool Central was originally the Mersey Railway terminus at Liverpool Central Low Level. A tunnel under Liverpool's city centre, the Link tunnel, created the through crossrail Northern Line. Stopping services running through Merseyside are sponsored by Merseytravel with stations given Merseyrail branding. develop a plan to extend the Merseyrail network from Kirkby through to Skelmersdale, with work completed in 2019. To the south of Liverpool Central Low Level Station, a new track layout was constructed as part of the Link Line project. At that time, the lines out of Liverpool Exchange, Liverpool Central Low Level, Liverpool Central High Level and Liverpool Lime Street stations were completely separate. [25], The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers opposed driver-only operation on the new fleet, which they said would put passenger safety and security at risk. Although powers were obtained to build this line under the 1975 Merseyside Metropolitan Railway Act, construction was postponed due to the financial cutbacks and political opposition that also halted the Outer Rail Loop project. A part of the scheme would be the construction of a six platform underground station at Broad Green where the two loops and the St.Helens/Wigan line met. The East Section - The former Cheshire Lines Committee North Liverpool Extension Line initially from Hunts Cross to Walton however amended to Aintree. The main works were undertaken between 1972 and 1977. 's Goodison Park and Liverpool F.C. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. The nearby Moorfields underground through station located on the new Line Link tunnel, serving the Northern and Wirral Lines, replaced Liverpool Exchange terminus station. A programme of new stations on the Merseyrail network expanded the coverage of the system. Staff are available to help you 15 minutes before start of service and 15 minutes from the end of service. Despite this, Merseytravel continued the Merseyrail branding at stations, allowing the name to be adopted colloquially. | The National Archives", http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/meols_cop_triangle/index.shtml, City of change and challenge: urban planning and regeneration in Liverpool, "OPSI Statutory Instrument 2003 No. This included a new station tunnel at Hamilton Square to serve the lines to New Brighton and West Kirby. The major engineering works required to integrate the Northern and Wirral lines became known as the 'Loop' and 'Link' Project, consisting of two tunnels. Connections are available at Southport to Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Airport; at Liverpool South Parkway for services operated by London Northwestern Railway, East Midlands Railway, TransPennine Express and Northern serving Birmingham New Street, Manchester Oxford Road, Blackpool North and various destinations within Yorkshire and the West Midlands; at Hunts Cross to Warrington Central and Manchester Oxford Road; at Ormskirk to Preston and at Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria.[12]. The reopened line passed under the West Coast Main Line Liverpool branch at Allerton but needed to cross the old Cheshire Lines Committee line to Manchester on the flat, which affected capacity. The Stadler class 777 trains are capable of being propelled only via onboard battery sets. The Merseyrail electric and the Northern Rail diesel services use opposite ends of the same platform at Kirkby. However, when the cost was estimated at £207 million,[79] Merseytravel announced that cheaper overhead line electrification would be considered instead. The train operating company was later bought by FirstGroup and rebranded First North Western. This is now the Country Park. The 'Loop' was the Wirral Line tunnel and the 'Link' the Northern Line tunnel, both under Liverpool's city centre. The buses depart at frequent intervals from Sandhills station with ticketing to combine both methods of travel available. [11], Typical weekday off-peak service on the Merseyrail-run Northern and Wirral lines is as follows:[16][17], City Line services are not operated by Merseyrail, but have timetables produced by Merseytravel and are included here for completeness. In 2015, Class 319 electric multiple units were transferred from the Thameslink route, refurbished, repainted in Northern livery and following the removal of the third rail collector shoes, are operating on the newly electrified lines between Liverpool, Wigan and Manchester, which incorporates the City Line. In the 1960s during the planning for Merseyrail, this was developed into the Outer Rail Loop scheme - an electric rapid-transit passenger line circling the outer districts of the city by using a combination of newly electrified existing lines and a new link tunnel under the city centre merging lines to the north and south of the city centre completing the loop. The cheapest way to get from Old Swan to Northern line (Merseyrail) costs only £1, and the quickest way takes just 8 mins. [75] In March 2015 the Electrification Task force placed the electrifying of the line from Southport to Salford Crescent via Wigan in the Tier 1 priority category. [62][63][64] Part of the Spatial Regeneration Framework for the area includes a new Baltic Triangle railway station[65][66] The Wapping Tunnel would have given access to Edge Hill via the historic Cavendish cutting, built for the 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The battery set per car can be up to five tons in weight. [94] This delay may impede the efficiency of Liverpool docks container terminal which is being extended to accommodate the largest post-Panamax container ships increasing container throughput of the terminal by 25%, entailing increased usage of the line. Liverpool Exchange was the terminus of the northern Liverpool to Manchester route to Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate station. [72] The lines chosen for the trials are: Many proposals to electrify lines adding them to the existing Merseyrail network have been proposed. From the document: KeolisAmey Wales, the operators of the Wales and Borders franchise Transport for Wales, are to use refurbished Class 230 metro trains using electric motor traction supplied with power by on-board batteries. A tunnelled branch to Birkenhead Park was added in 1888 to connect with the Wirral Railway and the original line extended to Rock Ferry to connect with the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line in 1891.[48]. You cannot use the pass on coach excursions, special bus services, excursions, National Express or Merseylink. The former through service to Bolton was split in two, with passengers wanting to make through journeys having to change at Kirkby from the Merseyrail electric network to the Northern Rail diesel network onwards to Bolton. For my own observations in travelling on Merseyrail in the last 18 months or so - the 50x trains were typical of "soon to be withdrawn" trains - "OK - but not really clean , certainly not compared to my local GTR / LNW operations , stations again "OK" but not outstanding. The City Line was also privatised under the 1993 Act, but as part of a different, much larger North West Regional Railways (NWRR) franchise. The Canada Dock Branch Line is the only line into the docks. [110] A feasibility study to reopen the Wapping Tunnel was commissioned and delivered in May 2016. The curves allowed northbound trains from Ormskirk to run directly to Southport to the west, and southbound trains from Preston to run west to Southport. The Mersey Railway was electrified in 1903 being the world's first full electrification of a steam railway. Over the years, Merseyrail has pioneered a number of control and communications initiatives and is currently rolling out new ‘connected’ trains. Trains from Old Roan depart with a basic quarter-hourly frequency, for four departures every hour to Liverpool Central and Ormskirk during the daytime, Monday through Saturday. On matchdays at Everton F.C. Although these two lines of the system by the strictest definition only partially fulfil the requirements of a pure rapid transit network (as it uses Network Rail-owned infrastructure), its legislative isolation from the national franchise system, high frequency in the central, underground sections, and operation as a self-contained network make it practically comparable to one or, more accurately, comparable to European S-train systems. Services operate on three main routes: from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool to Southport via the Link tunnel from Brunswick Station through central Liverpool, from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk and from Liverpool Central to Kirkby. The northern Liverpool to Manchester route was cut into two with differing modes of traction, electric and diesel. A yellow weather warning for ice and snow has been issued from 5pm today (January 7) through to Friday (January 8) at 11.59pm.. The Link Line tunnel is a double-track tunnel that links two lines. [23] Merseyrail will hold trials for battery train operation. 52 new four-car trains will be manufactured and supplied by Stadler, based in Bussnang in Switzerland. Network Rail has recommended that a strategy for the Burscough Curves be developed further. It would have extended the Merseyrail underground network from Liverpool Central Station to Edge Hill Station using existing freight tunnels. A burrowing junction was constructed at Birkenhead Hamilton Square station, to increase traffic capacity on the Wirral Line by eliminating the flat junction to the west of the station. In the decades following the commissioning of the resulting cut down rapid-transit network, political moves were made to complete the full project, to fully incorporate the City Line into the network, however to no avail. There are also two depots near Southport station: Southport Wall Sidings and Southport Carriage Holding Sidings. [52] In March 2015 the Electrification Task force placed electrifying the line from Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington Central in the Tier 1 priority category. [76], Southport to Wigan has been identified by Network Rail as a route where electrification in conjunction with extension of electrification from Ormskirk to Preston and reinstatement of the Burscough Curves would enable new patterns of passenger service to operate. 2A01:4B00:881D:3700:F882:89E:6379:F6AB 16:34, 5 February 2020 (UTC) Merseyrail's own website lists 68 stations so this page is correct. The roles will be reversed once the Class 777 trains fully replace the existing fleet. In November 2016 the details of the next phase of the Merseyrail fleet were announced: if trains capable of use beyond the third-rail DC network are selected as replacements, various expansions can be achieved without electrification of the entire new route. Hooton is a junction station where the line to Helsby via Ellesmere Port branches off the main Chester line. An additional and substantial benefit was diverting local urban trains entering the city from the east underground in the city centre. Rail replacement buses will run where possible but delays are likely due to poor road conditions. The Met Office said icy stretches are likely to form perhaps leading to some disruption to travel with snow falling for some places. In March 2015, the introduction of battery powered trains was proposed for the Borderlands line by Network Rail. This would require dual-voltage trains with third-rail and overhead-wire capability. Whether Merseyrail operates the trains, incorporating the City Line fully into the Merseyrail electric network or Northern Rail continues to operate on behalf of Merseytravel. Typical off-peak weekday service is as follows:[18]. The new trains will be longer, with either four or eight car services. The first successful bidder was Merseyrail Electrics (2002) Ltd, a joint venture between Serco and NedRailways (renamed Abellio in 2009).[35]. The loop would also be split into two loops, one north and one south of Liverpool's city centre, heading for the city centre's Central Station from Broad Green in the east via the Edge Hill Junction. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. [36], Operating as a self-contained network means there are relatively few problems because there is little conflict with other train operating companies. On 28 January 2020 Swiss rolling-stock manufacturer Stadler Rail provided the first of a new fleet of 52 new train sets, designated Class 777, being built at Stadler's factory in Bussnang, Switzerland. The Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority, later named Merseytravel, was formed in 1969 with representatives from all Merseyside local authorities taking responsibility for the local rail lines identified to be incorporated into the new network, henceforth known as 'Merseyrail'. New state-of-the-art trains will be introduced on to the Merseyrail network by 2020 replacing the current fleet which is approaching 40 years old.. The 60-year-old sadly died at the scene. A major junction was to have been formed at Broad Green with the eastern section of the Outer Loop with a six platform underground station to be named Rocket under the car park of the Rocket pub near the M62/Queens Drive road junction.

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