Bache railway station

Bache
Location
Place	Bache
Local authority	Cheshire West and Chester
Operations
Station code	BAC
Managed by	Merseyrail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	58,283
2005/06 *	60,430
2006/07 *	53,016
2007/08 *	88,074
2008/09 *	104,334
2009/10 *	187,704
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	G2
History
9 January 1984	Opened
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bache from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Bache railway station serves the Bache area in the north of the city of Chester, England. It is the first station for Merseyrail services leaving Chester on the Wirral Line. Passengers can alight here for regular bus services to Chester Zoo.

History

It opened in January 1984 in conjunction with a new supermarket being developed by Safeway on the site of the former railway coalyard. The modern station has two small covered waiting areas, information boards, CCTV and a footbridge. The platforms are made out of concrete slabs that are laid on brick piles. A public address system was installed in January 2012, presumably remotely operated as the station is unstaffed

This station superseded Upton-by-Chester railway station which was sited 700 metres (2,300 ft) to the north next to Liverpool Road roadbridge. The original station had two side platforms, a footbridge and a part-time manned ticket office. Today only the overgrown platforms remain: these can still be seen from trains travelling to and from Liverpool. The relocation of the station produced an immediate and dramatic uplift in the number of passengers using it.

Operations

The present station is unmanned. Since Bache became part of the Merseyrail Penalty Fares Area on 15 June 2009 intending passengers must purchase rail tickets (available to any destination on the UK rail network) from a ticket-vending machine located on the Liverpool-bound platform before boarding the train.

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes during the working day from Monday to Saturday southwards towards Chester and northwards towards Liverpool via Birkenhead. Later in the evening and on Sundays the service is half-hourly.

A bus service connects Bache railway station with Chester Zoo. This service is provided free of charge to rail users with a valid ticket.

Problems

Merseyrail leases Bache railway station car park from Morrisons Supermarket. Rail users' vehicles that have been parked in the supermarket's own parking area due to lack of spaces in the designated Station Car Park are issued penalty tickets. Intending rail passengers who arrive to find the designated Station Car Park full and who wish to avoid a penalty ticket, and staff at and visitors to the nearby Countess of Chester Hospital, are creating problems for local residents by leaving their vehicles in adjacent roads and streets.

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 

External links

• Train times and station information for Bache railway station from National Rail
• Station information for Bache railway station from Merseyrail
• Station on navigable O.S. map Bache south of marked Upton station

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Chester		Merseyrail Wirral Line		Capenhurst or Hooton