Kirkdale is a stop on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network at the junction of the Ormskirk and Kirkby branches and is in between Sandhills and Walton or Rice Lane. The station is next to Kirkdale TMD which is the largest depot on the Merseyrail network.
Ormskirk bound Merseyrail 507 016 arrives at the station
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
KKD
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened as Bootle Lane in 1848 on a joint line built by the Liverpool, Ormskirk & Preston and Liverpool & Bury Railways. The station was renamed Kirkdale in 1877.
Although still a busy spot on the network Kirkdale used to have a number of other lines and routes pass through or underneath the station. Since 1977 it has been part of the Merseyrail network and is the interchange between the Kirkby and Ormskirk branches which diverge just North of the station.
The station was refurbished and modernised in 2000 with a new footbridge and an improved booking office.
Merseyrail 508 124 rests on a TMD siding next to the station
Merseyrail 507 023 departs Kirkdale
Combined footbridge and ticket office
Look down the platform, the TMD is in the background
The station was opened by the Garston & Liverpool Railway in 1864 as Cressington & Grassendale, later becoming part of the Cheshire Lines Committee. The station was closed in 1972 but re-opened in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail network. The station is Grade II listed with a footbridge between the platforms. The platforms extend beyond a road bridge which crosses the tracks for six-car services, special dispensation had to be granted to allow for narrow platforms under the bridge.
The station has a twenty minute service most days on Merseyrail's Northern Line between Hunts Cross and Southport.
View down the platform
Footbridge to the main station building (and exit)
507 019 departs, the platform continues under the bridge
Headbolt Lane is a double terminus in Merseyside of the Merseyrail Northern Line's Kirkby Branch and the Wigan-Kirkby Line.
Merseyrail 777 142 prepares to return to Liverpool
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch, Wigan-Kirkby Line)
Station code:
HBL
Opened:
2023
Platforms:
3
Merseyrail's Kirkby Branch originally terminated at Kirkby, as did trains from Wigan, the two terminating lines facing each other without a physical connection. In 2023 a new station was built a little further up the line with Merseyrail trains continuing onwards to this new terminus. The Merseyrail line extension is not electrified, the Class 777 trains travelling to Headbolt Lane on battery power. As with Kirkby beforehand, there is no physical connection between the two lines.
There are two platforms for Merseyrail trains and one for Northern's services from Wigan Wallgate. The station has a staffed ticket office and is served by up to three Merseyrail trains and one Northern train an hour.
Orrell Park is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line Ormskirk Branch in Liverpool between Aintree and Walton.
Merseyrail 777 009 arrives at Orrell Park
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line Ormskirk Branch)
Station code:
OPK
Opened:
1906
Platforms:
2
The station was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1906 as Orrell Park Halt (it lost the Halt part of the station name in 1948).
The station has a staffed booking office with ramps down to platform level. A footbridge allows transfer between the two platforms. The station is managed and served by Merseyrail with trains at up to every fifteen minutes interval in each direction.
507 016 arrives with a Liverpool bound service
View down the platform showing the footbridge and standard shelters
Hall Road is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line between Hightown and Blundellsands & Crosby.
Merseyrail 507 011 arrives with a Liverpool bound service
Information
Type:
National Rail (Merseyrail Northern Line)
Station code:
HLR
Opened:
1874
Platforms:
2
Hall Road owes its existence to a timber merchant called Joseph Gardner. He lived nearby in an isolated house and wanted a station built for his use. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, who owned the line, said they would not open a station for just the one house but would if five more houses were built nearby. Gardner had the houses built himself! [1] The station was opened in 1874.
Now part of the Merseyrail network, the station sees Merseyrail's distinctive yellow trains usually every fifteen minutes between Southport and Liverpool (and beyond). Access between the platforms is via the footbridge or via the road/level crossing at the entrance of the station. The station is manned and has a ticket office. Station buildings are a mixture of brick and bus shelter.
Station sign
507 003 arrives with a Liverpool bound service
General view of the platform, plenty of Merseyrail yellow on show!
Main station building
Level crossing
[1] Jonathan Cadwaller & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 22
Birkenhead Park is a stop on the Merseyrail Wirral Line on the Wirral between Conway Park and Birkenhead North.
Merseyrail 777 011 departs for Liverpool Central
Information
Type:
National Rail (Merseyrail Wirral Line)
Station code:
BKP
Opened:
1888
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1888 as a joint station [1] and interchange between the Wirral Railway's line to West Kirby and the Mersey Railway's line to Liverpool Central. The station takes it's name from a nearby Victorian municipal park.
When it was opened Birkenhead Park consisted of two island platforms, one for each railway operating from it. Trains bound for Liverpool often had their locomotives changed to those with condensing equipment for opration through the Mersey tunnel. Through trains on the Mersey Railway ended in 1903 with the electrification of the line. Wirral Railway trains (by now operated by the LMS) were electrified in 1938. Merseyrail trains still use the LMS third-rail electrification.
The station was badly damaged during a bombing in 1941 during the Blitz, the main building was destroyed and the line closed for eleven days. The station was rationalised in the late 1980s with just one island platform used nowadays, the other platform was demolished in 1992 [2]. The station is managed by Merseyrail.
508 130 stands at Birkenhead Park
Station frontage
A view of the ramp up to the station building level
507 002 arrives
View down the platform
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Birkenhead to West Kirby (Middleton Press, 2014) Fig. 8 [2] Ibid. Fig. 14
Rice Lane is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch in Liverpool between Kirkdale and Fazakerley.
A Merseyrail Class 777 prepares to depart
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch)
Station code:
RIL
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
2
The station was opened as Preston Road in 1848 and is the first station on the Kirkby Branch, being just north of Walton Junction. The station was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on the railway's main line from Liverpool to Manchester [1]. The line was electrified in 1977. The station was renamed Rice Lane in 1984.
The station has a staffed ticket office. Access between the two platforms is a via a footbridge. Merseyrail trains between Kirkby and Liverpool Central call at Rice Lane at up to fifteen minute intervals during the day.
View down the line towards Liverpool
Merseyrail 507 002 arrives with a Liverpool bound service
Station view from the footbridge, the ticket office is to the right
Rice Lane footbridge
Merseyrail 507 003 departs for Kirkby
[1] Jonathan Cadwallader & Martin Jenkins, Merseyside Electrics (Ian Allan, 2010) p. 42
Kirkby is a stop on the Merseyrail Northern Line in Liverpool between Fazakerley and Headbolt Lane.
A Merseyrail Class 777 stands at Kirkby
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern Line Kirkby Branch)
Station code:
KIR
Opened:
1848
Platforms:
1
The station was opened by the Liverpool & Bury Railway in 1848. The station later became part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and on the main route between the cities. However, after nationalisation the route declined and became mostly a local commuter line. In the 1970s one of the platforms was closed. After the line was electrified in 1977, the third rail stopped at Kirkby. The line was split into two with electric Merseyrail services and diesel services to Manchester, Bolton and Wigan Wallgate beginning on a platform on the other side of a bridge.
Through running returned to Kirkby with the extension of Merseyrail to the new Headbolt Lane station in 2023. However, Merseyrail Class 777 electric multiple units travel to the new station on battery power. The diesel only platform on the other side of the bridge has now been closed.
The station is managed by Merseyrail with a staffed ticket office. Access to down platform level is via stairs or a ramp.
Station building
Before the closure of the diesel only line, Merseyrail trains terminated here
National Rail
(Merseyrail Northern & Wirral Lines)
Station code:
MRF
Opened:
1977
Platforms:
3
The station was opened in 1977 as the replacement for the closed terminus Liverpool Exchange [1]. The line was continued through Moorfields to Liverpool Central. The Wirral Loop platform, which is at a deeper level than the other platforms, did not open until a few months after the Northern Line platforms and shares the same grp (glass-reinforced polyester) cladding design as the other new stations on the loop [2].
Moorfields is the third busiest station on the Merseyrail network and the largest underground station. It is managed and served by Merseyrail.
View down the platform
This way for the Wirral Line
Northern Line platform showing the grp cladding
This way for the Northern Line!
Northern Line platform
[1] Chris Heaps, BR Diary 1968-1977 (Ian Allan, 1988) p. 114
[2] David Lawrence, British Rail Architecture 1948-97 (Crecy Publishing, 2018) p. 156
