Calling at... British railway stations: Liverpool South Parkway (LPY)

Liverpool South Parkway is a junction of the Merseyrail City and Northern Lines and the West Coast Main Line in South Liverpool. The station also has a bus interchange including a bus link to the nearby Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The station is located between Hunts Cross and Cressington on the Northern Line.

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Information
Type:	National Rail (West Coast Main Line, City Line & Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:	LPY
Opened:	2006
Platforms:	6

The station was formed from the merger and replacement of two existing stations: Allerton and Garston. Allerton was opened in 1864 by the St Helens Railway and served routes to Liverpool from Manchester and Crewe. It went into decline after the late 1970s after Garston joined the Merseyrail Northern Line, this took over much of the local traffic as it offered a faster service to the city centre.

Garston itself was opened in 1874 by the Cheshire Lines Committee. It was struggling for passengers by the 1960s and closed in 1972. It was reopened in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail Northern Line to form the Southern terminus of the line [1], though the line was extended through to Hunts Cross in the early 1980s. Both Garston and Allerton were closed in the mid-2000s.

The station buildings and platforms of both of the older stations were demolished and replaced by new buildings for the new station. The WCML and City Line platforms are on the site of Allerton station and the Northern Line platforms built slightly to the East of where Garston was situated.

When Liverpool Lime Street is closed for whatever reason Liverpool South Parkway can be used as the terminus for incoming services instead, with the Northern Line taking people on to the centre of the city.