Canada Dock branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Canada Dock branch passes beneath the Merseyrail Northern Line near Balliol Road, entering the dock complex. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operational | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Network Rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | United Kingdom (Liverpool North West England) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stations | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1866 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 4 mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of tracks | Double track throughout | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loading gauge | W10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Canada Dock Branch is a 4-mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long railway line in Liverpool, England. The line's route is from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock to the north. The line was originally built by the London and North Western Railway terminating at Canada Dock, with a later branch extension added to Alexandra Dock and links onto the MDHC railway lines. The line is not electrified.
The line opened in 1866 between Edge Hill and Canada Dock. Passenger trains ran on the line to Canada Dock from 1870. The initial stations were: Canada Dock, Walton & Anfield, Breck Road, Tue Brook, Stanley and Edge Lane. On 5 September 1881 a sub-branch to Alexandra Dock was opened from the main branch at Atlantic Junction. The branch was in a cutting to the south west of Kirkdale Station. This added the Alexandra Dock and Bootle Balliol Road stations to the line. A further station as added in 1882 at County Road named Spellow. On 1 May 1886 a junction with the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was opened from the Alexandra Branch. [1]
By 31 May 1948 all the passenger stations on the line closed. The line continued to be used by regular Southport to Liverpool Lime Street services, which operated primarily to provide a convenient Southport connection to long haul mainline trains. The service was withdrawn in October 1977. [2] A new Merseyrail underground station below the mainline Lime Street station gave access from Southport via the Merseyrail Northern Line and Wirral Line.
A planned extension to Hornby and Gladstone Docks was abandoned in September 1973, however the extension was built and opened in September 1985 for the transport of grain and coal. [3]
During 2021, work took place to double the 400 metres of single line section of the track, allowing trains greater flexibility to enter and exit the mainline. [4]
The line is currently a freight-only diesel-traction line and is sometimes referred to as the Bootle Branch or Seaforth Container Terminal Branch (SCT) providing the sole remaining rail connection to the Port of Liverpool.
The Olive Mount chord at Edge Hill junction was re-opened in December 2008, approximately doubling the Canada Dock branch's throughput of freight from the Port of Liverpool to the West Coast Main Line. The reinstatement of the chord was essential for existing port operations, ready for the increase in freight when the Post-Panamax, Liverpool2 container terminal was completed at Seaforth Dock. The container terminal can berth the world's largest container ships, transporting up to 14,000 containers per ship.
Biomass wood pellets are imported into Liverpool and delivered to the Drax power station in Yorkshire via the rail link. The service started in 2015 with four trains a day, each carrying 25 wagons containing approximately 1,600 tonnes (1,800 tons) of biomass pellets. [5]
A thrice-weekly rail link between the Port of Liverpool and the Mossend terminal in Glasgow was set up in 2018. It is expected that each trip will consist of about 40 containers. [6]
The Department for Transport's Rail electrification document of July 2009, states that the route to Liverpool Docks will be electrified. The Canada Dock Branch Line is the only line into the docks. [7] From the document:
The electrification of this branch line would greatly assist in recommissioning passenger trains, as costs would be reduced.
The Route Utilisation Strategy document makes note of the benefits of dual-voltage Electric multiple unit trains, which can be utilised on both the third rail Merseyrail network and future electrified lines which are likely to use overhead wires.
There is also a serious suggestion to introduce passenger services on this line in the Local Transport Plan for Merseyside. [8] This was again mentioned in Merseytravel's 30-year plan of 2014. [9] The October 2017 Liverpool City Region Combined Authority update to the Long Term Rail Strategy mentions the re-opening of the line to passenger use with new stations at Anfield, Tue Brook and Edge Lane. [10]
The expansion of Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium has led to repeated calls to open the line to passengers and the building of a station to serve the stadium and the Anfield area. [11] It was announced in December 2019 that Liverpool City Council had commissioned a feasibility study to see about reopening the Canada Dock Branch to passenger traffic. [12]
Peel Ports announced plans to expand the railhead at the port in January 2023. [13] Aimed at getting more freight off the road and onto rail, the plans involve extending the railhead length from 400m to 800m to increase capacity at the facility.
Merseyside is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Liverpool.
Merseyrail is a commuter rail system serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and the Wirral Line, which are dedicated 750 V DC third rail electrified lines converging into rapid transit-style underground sections in the centres of Liverpool and Birkenhead. Merseyrail branding is also applied to stations and ticketing on the City Line, which are within the Liverpool City Region but operated by other train operating companies, predominantly Northern Trains. The City Line services operate on the Liverpool to Manchester Lines and the Liverpool to Wigan Line using a mix of AC overhead wire electric and diesel trains.
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.
Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline terminus. It is the busiest station in Liverpool, though considerably smaller than Lime Street station, the mainline terminus, and the busiest station to operate solely on the Merseyrail network. The station is the busiest underground station outside London serving 40,000 people daily. The station in passengers per platform is the busiest underground railway station in the United Kingdom at 5,217,547 per platform per annum and laying third in all stations, underground or overground.
Hunts Cross railway station is a Grade II listed railway station in Hunt's Cross, Liverpool, England. It is situated on the southern branch of the Merseytravel City Line's Liverpool to Manchester route, and is the southern terminus of Merseyrail's Northern Line.
Ormskirk railway station in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, is a cross-platform interchange between Merseyrail services from Liverpool Central and Northern Trains services from Preston on the Ormskirk branch line, 12+3⁄4 miles (20.5 km) northeast of Liverpool. The station building and three arch road bridge are both Grade II listed structures.
There once were four direct railway routes between Liverpool and Manchester in the North West of England; only two remain, the two centre routes of the four. The most northerly and the most southerly of the four routes are no longer direct lines. Of the remaining two direct routes, the northern route of the two is fully electric, while the now southern route is a diesel-only line. The most northerly of the four has been split into two routes: the western section operated by Merseyrail electric trains and the eastern section by diesel trains, requiring passengers to change trains between the two cities. The fourth route, the most southerly of the four, has been largely abandoned east of Warrington; the remaining section caters mainly for freight trains.
Sandhills railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. It was built by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway Company and now stands at the junction between the branch to Southport and the branch to Ormskirk and Kirkby.
The Northern line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Wirral line. The cross-city route runs from Hunts Cross in south Liverpool then branches in the north to terminate at Southport, Kirkby and Ormskirk (Lancashire).
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
The North Liverpool Extension Line was a railway line in Liverpool, England in operation between 1879 and 1972. It was at one stage intended to become the eastern section of the Merseyrail Outer Loop, an orbital line circling the city.
The North Mersey Branch (NMB) is a railway line that connected the Liverpool and Bury Railway at Fazakerley Junction with North Mersey and Alexandra Docks.
Burscough Bridge railway station is one of two railway stations which serves the town of Burscough in Lancashire, England. It is on the Manchester-Southport Line. It is operated and managed by Northern Trains. A bus interchange has recently been constructed next to the station, including a shop and cafe. The station has been identified by Merseytravel as a possible interchange between the Liverpool to Ormskirk line and the Southport to Wigan line in its Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy.
Aintree railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Aintree, Merseyside, England. It is on the Ormskirk branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line. Until 1968 it was known as Aintree Sefton Arms after a nearby public house. The station's design reflects that it is the closest station to Aintree Racecourse, where the annual Grand National horse race takes place.
Ince & Elton railway station, on the Hooton–Helsby line, serves both Ince and Elton in Cheshire, England. The station is unstaffed.
Spellow railway station was located on County Road, Walton in Liverpool, England.
The City Line is the brand name used by Merseytravel on suburban rail services in the Liverpool City Region starting eastwards from the mainline platforms of Liverpool Lime Street railway station.
The Kirkby Branch Line is a branch railway line from Wigan to Kirkby. The line's original route was from Liverpool to Bury and later the most northern of the Liverpool to Manchester lines. The line was split at Kirkby in 1977 with the western section forming a high frequency branch of the electrified Merseyrail Northern Line, also referred to as the Kirkby branch line. The Kirkby branch to Wigan remained a low frequency diesel operated service by Northern Trains from Headbolt Lane to Manchester.
Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.