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Liverpool Central | |
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General information | |
Location | Liverpool, Liverpool England |
Coordinates | 53°24′17″N2°58′49″W / 53.4046°N 2.9802°W Coordinates: 53°24′17″N2°58′49″W / 53.4046°N 2.9802°W |
Grid reference | SJ350902 |
Platforms | 6 [1] |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Cheshire Lines Committee |
Pre-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
Post-grouping | Cheshire Lines Committee |
Key dates | |
1 March 1874 | Station opened |
17 April 1972 | Station closed [2] |
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Liverpool Central High Level [3] was a terminus railway station in central Liverpool, England. It opened on 1 March 1874, at the western end of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line to Manchester Central. It replaced Brunswick as the CLC's Liverpool passenger terminus, becoming the headquarters of the committee.
A three-storey building fronted Ranelagh Street in Liverpool city centre, with a 65-foot (20 m) high, arched shed behind. [4] There were six platforms within the station, offering journeys to Manchester Central, London St. Pancras, Hull, Harwich, Stockport Tiviot Dale, Southport Lord Street and an alternative route to that of the Midland Railway terminating at London Marylebone. The journey to Manchester Central took 45 mins, making the route quicker and more direct than those of the competing Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and London & North Western Railway.
On 11 January 1892, Liverpool Central Low Level underground station opened at the end of the Mersey Railway's route, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel from Birkenhead. The tunnel was extended from James Street to Central. The Mersey Railway platforms were underground, accessed from stairs within the station; these stairs were situated in roughly the same position as the escalators accessing the Merseyrail Northern Line today.
The station was always busy, until nationalisation. Route closures that were part of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s closed three terminal stations: Liverpool Central High Level, Liverpool Exchange and Woodside Station in Birkenhead.
New tunnels under Liverpool's city centre were scheduled to connect all the separate rail lines to create Merseyrail.
In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Lime Street via the Hunts Cross chord, leaving only a dozen urban commuter trains per day to and from the terminus at Gateacre. These final services were withdrawn on 17 April 1972, with the High Level part of the station closed that day; it was later demolished, after having served briefly as a car park. However, the Low Level underground station remains open. [5]
The site was being developed into Central Village, building over the underground station; however, in 2017, new owners Augur announced that they planned to develop the site into a mixed retail and leisure development known as 'Circus'.
The station had six platforms, arranged over three islands. The island that formed platforms 1 and 2 was especially wide to allow vehicles to drive down the middle. Run-around loops were present between platforms 2 and 3; platforms 4 and 5; and east of platform 6. [6]
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Terminus | Cheshire Lines Committee | St James Line and station closed |
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston terminates at the station, as does the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Journeys from Lime Street cover a wide range of destinations across England, Scotland and Wales.
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network 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 electric and diesel trains.
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated 143 miles (230 km) of track in the then counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The railway did not get grouped into one of the Big Four during the implementation of the 1923 grouping, surviving independently with its own management until the railways were nationalised at the beginning of 1948. The railway served Liverpool, Manchester, Stockport, Warrington, Widnes, Northwich, Winsford, Knutsford, Chester and Southport with connections to many other railways.
The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. The railway opened in 1886 with four stations using steam locomotives hauling unheated wooden carriages; in the next six years the line was extended and three more stations opened. Using the first tunnel under the Mersey the line is the world's oldest underground railway outside London.
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.
Liverpool Exchange railway station was a railway station located in the city centre of Liverpool, England. Of the four terminal stations in Liverpool's city centre, Exchange station was the only station not accessed via a tunnel.
Liverpool James Street railway station is a railway station located in the centre of Liverpool, England, situated on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. James Street is an underground station with access to the platforms via lifts from the James Street booking hall. At certain times the platforms are accessed via a pedestrian tunnel from the India Buildings on Water Street. As of 2013/14, James Street was the fifth-busiest station on the Merseyrail network.
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.
Birkenhead Hamilton Square railway station serves the town of Birkenhead, in Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. The station is close to Hamilton Square in Birkenhead.
The Merseyrail Northern line is a cross-city railway running from Hunts Cross in south Liverpool then to termini in the north at Southport (Merseyside), Ormskirk (Lancashire) and Kirkby (Merseyside). It and the Wirral Line are commuter rail services operated by Merseyrail, serving Merseyside. A third line, the City Line, is not owned or operated by Merseyrail, although stations inside Merseytravel's area are branded as Merseyrail. All three lines are funded by Merseytravel.
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.
Birkenhead Park railway station is a station serving the town of Birkenhead, in Merseyside, England. It lies on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.
The Garston and Liverpool Railway line ran from the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway line at Garston Docks to Brunswick railway station, later to central Liverpool. The company was formed on 17 May 1861 and the line opened on 1 June 1864.
Southport Lord Street was a railway station located on Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It was the terminus of the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway from Liverpool.
Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire. It was served by local services in Cheshire as well as long-distance services to southern England, including London.
Birkenhead Central is a railway station serving the town of Birkenhead, in Merseyside, England. Located on the south side of Birkenhead town centre, it lies on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network.
Rock Ferry railway station is situated in the Rock Ferry area of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The station lies 4.5 miles (7 km) south west of Liverpool Lime Street on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. The station has an island platform with four platforms in total and four tracks.
Aintree Central railway station was a station located on the North Liverpool Extension Line on Park Lane, Aintree, Merseyside, across Park Lane from the current Aintree station.
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.