Earlestown railway station

Earlestown
Earlestown station buildings viewed from platform 1
Location
Place	Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows
Local authority	St Helens
Coordinates	53.451°N 2.638°W / 53.451; -2.638
Grid reference	SJ578951
Operations
Station code	ERL
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	5
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.220 million
2005/06 *	0.219 million
2006/07 *	0.218 million
2007/08 *	0.226 million
2008/09 *	0.395 million
2009/10 *	0.394 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	A1
History
Original company	Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
15 September 1830	Opened as Newton Junction
July 1852	Renamed Warrington Junction
November 1861	Renamed Earlestown Junction
5 June 1950	Renamed Earlestown
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 Earlestown from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Earlestown railway station is a railway station in Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, England. Since recent restoration of a platform for Warrington Bank Quay to Liverpool trains, it is one of the few "triangular" stations in Britain (see below).

Early history

The station lies on the former Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was opened on 15 September 1830. On 25 July 1831 the Warrington and Newton Railway was opened for public use, making a junction at a point in the township of Newton, facing in the direction of Liverpool.

The surviving Earlestown station buildings were constructed around 1835 on the original site, at the point of intersection of these two early railways, incidentally forming the first steam railway junction, which was given the name Newton Junction. The locality was soon selected as the site of the company's carriage and wagon works, and thus developed into something of a 'company town', which was given the name "Earlestown" after James Hardman Earle, a director of the Liverpool and Manchester company. There was also a branch to a local colliery.

The junction had a very tight curvature and this caused problems: instructions were issued on the maximum speed at which trains could go from one line to another. The original building now forms the (currently unused) waiting room of Earlestown Station.

The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) absorbed the Warrington and Newton company as of 31 December 1834 and from the GJR's completion of their trunk line from Birmingham on 4 July 1837 used it to access the Liverpool and Manchester line. A new "Curve" was built at Newton Junction so that trains could run towards Manchester; this gave the station a triangular formation with six platforms.

The method of operation involved the despatch of a Grand Junction train from both Liverpool and Manchester to meet at Earlestown. These were joined together and continued as one train to Birmingham. Both portions conveyed through carriages after 1839 to London The Grand Junction trains arriving from Birmingham were usually split at Warrington (Bank Quay) and passed through Earlestown as separate Liverpool and Manchester trains.

Later history

The London and North Western Railway later operated their main line service to the Scottish border by way of Earlestown and Parkside, utilising a short section of the old Liverpool and Manchester line. This inconvenient routing was eliminated by the construction of the Golborne cut-off, a direct connection avoiding Earlestown. However, the original route was wired up as part of the West Coast Main Line electrification, since it was then used by a few trains stopping at Earlestown.

In the Beeching Report of 1963, Earlestown was listed as one of the stations to be closed, but it remained open along with other stations between Liverpool and Manchester that had also been listed such as Huyton and Edge Hill. However, direct trains to St Helens Shaw Street via St Helens Junction were withdrawn.

At present, there are frequent services to Liverpool (Lime Street), Manchester (Victoria and Piccadilly), Warrington (Bank Quay), Chester and then via the North Wales Coast Line to Llandudno. The line through the 'curve' is still electrified as part of the spur between Winwick Junction (on the West Coast Mainline north of Warrington) and Golborne Junction (south of Wigan, where the main line is rejoined). There are no regular electric passenger services through Earlestown or Newton le Willows, only diverted electric trains use this route when necessary.

Historical status

The Manchester and Liverpool Railway at Newton, by Charles Calvert

The triangular track layout at Earlestown represents the oldest junction in the world between two passenger railways, in the form of the first "stationary turntable" or wye ever constructed. Nearby on the line towards Liverpool is the Sankey Viaduct, the first mainline railway viaduct. It crosses the Sankey Canal, which is claimed to be the world's first purpose-built industrial waterway.

The waiting room on the Liverpool-bound platform is the oldest station building in the world still in passenger service, although this is now limited to providing shelter from the rain under its canopy. The building is currently derelict, with tickets being sold in a more recent structure.

Service summary

Earlestown station ticket office

• Platform 1 for services to Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge, via Newton-le-Willows; operated by Northern Rail
• Platform 2 for services to Liverpool Lime Street (from Manchester Victoria), via St Helens Junction; operated by Northern Rail
• Platform 3 for services between Warrington Bank Quay and Liverpool (bidirectional platform); operated by Northern Rail
• Platform 4 for services to Manchester Piccadilly, via Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Oxford Road; operated by Arriva Trains Wales
• Platform 5 for services to Chester and Llandudno (Mon-Sat only), via Warrington and Helsby; operated by Arriva Trains Wales

Passengers for Holyhead must change at Chester or Llandudno Junction.

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. 
• Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830-1980, Frank Ferneyhough, Book Club Associates, 1980, (no ISBN)
• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Newton-le-Willows		Arriva Trains Wales Chester to Manchester Line		Warrington Bank Quay
Warrington Bank Quay		Northern Rail Liverpool to Manchester Line (Warrington spur)		St Helens Junction
Newton-le-Willows		Northern Rail Liverpool to Manchester Line (Northern route)		St Helens Junction