| North Liverpool Extension Line | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale | Merseyside |
| History | |
| Opened | 1879 |
| Closed | 1972 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
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 line was built by the Cheshire Lines Committee, branching from the Committee's Liverpool to Manchester line at Hunts Cross in the south of the city, running north skirting the eastern edge of Liverpool, finally arriving at the Walton Triangle junction. One line continued north to Aintree, another curved west through the Rice Lane to Kirkdale tunnel which brought the line facing south, towards Liverpool Docks. The line ran alongside the already existing LYR line before terminating at Huskisson railway station, just after Sandhills railway station. A small line left Huskisson, retracing the route northward before turning towards the river and the Midland Railway's Sandon and Canada Dock Goods station. The line opened between 1879 and 1880.
The Aintree branch was extended to Southport in 1884.
The route closed in stages. In 1960 the line closed to passengers between Aintree and Gateacre.
In 1972 passenger trains from Liverpool Central High Level to Gateacre were withdrawn. The Gateacre service was proposed to be reinstated in 1978, with the station being the terminus of the new Merseyrail Northern Line. However this never materialised, with the terminus being cut back to Hunts Cross station on the southern Liverpool to Manchester line. The line continued to carry freight to Liverpool's docks until it was lifted in 1979. The trackbed of the main section of line now forms part of the National Cycle Network Route 62 and the Trans Pennine Trail.
The Orbital Outer Rail Loop was a part of the initial Merseyrail plans of the 1970s. The route circled the outer fringes of the city of Liverpool using primarily existing rail lines merged to create the loop. With the city of Liverpool 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. This was completed being now the a part of the Merseyrail's Northern Line. The scheme was begun along with the creation of Merseyrail, however, owing to cost-cutting the eastern section was postponed.
The concept of using the former Cheshire Lines Committee's North Liverpool Extension Line [1] route through the eastern suburbs of Liverpool as the eastern section of a rapid-transit orbital route circling the outskirts of the city first emerged before the Second World War. The proposal was for a 'belt' line using the now-demolished Liverpool Overhead Railway, which ran along the river front, as its western section.
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 joining together lines to the north and south of the city centre completing the loop. A feature was that passengers on the mainline radial routes into Lime Street station from the east and south could transfer onto the Outer Loop at two parkway interchange stations and complete their journey to Liverpool suburbs avoiding the need to travel into the city centre: Liverpool South Parkway was one of these stations, opening thirty years after the initial proposal. The Outer Loop would have connected the eastern suburbs of the city—Gateacre, Childwall, Broadgreen, Knotty Ash, West Derby, Norris Green and Walton—with the city centre. [2]
The final plan of the Outer Loop consisted of two sub-loops - serving the northern and southern suburbs with both running through the city centre from the east. These sub-loops allowed more direct journeys to the city centre from the eastern suburbs, giving the overall scheme greater viability.
The key components of the Loop were as follows:
The West Section - the existing Merseyrail Electrics Northern Line from Sandhills in the north (later Aintree on the Ormskirk branch) to Hunts Cross. 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 East Section - the former Cheshire Lines Committee North Liverpool Extension Line initially from Hunts Cross to Walton, however, amended to Aintree.
The North Section - originally the CLC line from Walton to Kirkdale via the Breeze Hill tunnel. In later versions of the scheme the North Mersey Branch from Aintree to Bootle was substituted. The latter is still intact although only used by maintenance trains whilst the former is now partially built over.
The Central Section - the central section was a later addition to the plan and effectively divided the loop into two sub-loops and also gave city centre access for the towns east of Merseyside. This included the unrealised Edge Hill Spur scheme from Liverpool Central Low Level to Edge Hill using the Waterloo Tunnel and a section of the City Line from Edge Hill to Broad Green. 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.[ citation needed ]
The Outer Rail Loop would have been double-track throughout and electrified using the 750 V DC third-rail system used by the Merseyrail Electrics network.
Although no official proposals have been made to revive the scheme in recent years, the route is effectively safeguarded with periodic calls being made by local politicians for the revival of the complete project or just the short stretch of the route from Hunts Cross to Gateacre. [3] The Gateacre service was the last to operate out of the former Liverpool Central High-Level Station prior to its closure in 1972.
The Outer Rail Loop project was a victim of the recession of the late 1970s compounded by delays and cost overruns on the Loop and Link projects and local political opposition. The project was abandoned as a working proposal by Merseytravel in the 1980s. Much expense was incurred in constructing a large bridge taking the M62 motorway over the eastern section and header tunnels at Liverpool Central station. The route is still largely intact, complete with bridges, it is used as walking and cycling trail through the suburbs, though the route is still protected for rail use.
In 2012 the body of missing person Paula Hounslea was discovered on an embankment of the loop line cycle path near its junction with Blackthorne Road in Fazakerley.
The Cheshire Lines Committee put forward several plans to connect railway lines to Liverpool Docks via the extension. One of these was the Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway.
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail serves 69 stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lines – the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The network uses 750 V DC third rail electrified lines having 75.0 miles (120.7 km) of routes, of which 6.5 miles (10.5 km) are underground. Since January 2023, Merseyrail commenced replacing its train fleet, withdrawing the Class 507 and 508 trains and introducing 53 new Class 777 trains. The network carried 25.5 million passengers in the 2022/2023 statistical period.
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 become part 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.
Walton is an area of Liverpool, England, north of Anfield and east of Bootle and Orrell Park. Historically in Lancashire, it is largely residential, with a diverse population.
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 outside of London at 3,979,547 per platform per annum and coming tenth out of all stations outside the capital, 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.
Moorfields railway station is an underground railway station in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The station is situated on both the Northern and Wirral Lines of the Merseyrail network. It is the third-busiest station on the Merseyrail network, and the largest underground station. It is also the only station on the network having services to all other Merseyrail stations.
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 City Line (Merseytravel)'s Liverpool to Manchester Line route, and is the southern terminus of Merseyrail's Northern Line.
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.
Old Roan railway station is a railway station in Aintree village, Merseyside, England, about seven miles north-east of Liverpool, on the Ormskirk Branch of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.
Garston railway station was a railway station in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. The station was located on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail suburban rail network. The station was closed in 2006 when it was replaced by Liverpool South Parkway, which is a combined bus and rail interchange. The proximity of the stations was so close the platforms of South Parkway nearly merged onto the Garston station's platforms.
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, Headbolt Lane 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 Mersey Branch (NMB) is a railway line that connected the Liverpool and Bury Railway at Fazakerley Junction with North Mersey and Alexandra Docks.
Kirkdale 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 acts as the interchange between the branches to Kirkby and Ormskirk; these lines diverge just north of the station.
Belle Vale is a district of south-east Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward that covers both Belle Vale and Netherley.
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.
Gateacre (for Woolton) railway station was located on the North Liverpool Extension Line on the north side of Belle Vale Road, Gateacre, Liverpool, England. Next door was the Black Bull public house which still stands.
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.
Liverpool Central High Level 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.
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.
