Liverpool Central railway station: Difference between revisions
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===Underground Station Added=== |
===Underground Station Added=== |
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[[Image:MerseyRailway.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The underground Mersey Railway reached Liverpool Central in 1892, aligning with the CLC tunnel.]] |
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| ⚫ | On 11 January 1892 Liverpool Central Low Level station opened, at the end of the [[Mersey Railway]]'s route, via the [[Mersey Railway Tunnel]] from [[Birkenhead]], when |
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| ⚫ | On 11 January 1892 Liverpool Central Low Level station opened, at the end of the [[Mersey Railway]]'s route, via the [[Mersey Railway Tunnel]] from [[Birkenhead]], when the route was extended from {{stnlnk|James Street}}. The Mersey Railway platforms were underground, accessed from stairs within the High Level station. They were situated in roughly the same position as the escalators accessing the [[Merseyrail Northern Line]] today. |
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The Mersey Railway tunnel was aligned with the high level station's approach tunnel from the south. This was to ensure minimum engineering work if ever there was to be a link up of the two tunnels. The forward thinking of the Victorian engineers paid dividends when the two tunnels were linked in the 1970s. |
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===Merseyrail Metro=== |
===Merseyrail Metro=== |
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Revision as of 11:12, 5 July 2010
Liverpool Central | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Liverpool |
| Managed by | Merseyrail |
| Platforms | 3 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | LVC |
| Fare zone | C1 |
| Key dates | |
| 2 March 1874 11 January 1892 17 April 1972 28 July 1975 9 May 1977 | Opened (High Level) Opened (Low Level) Closed (High Level) Closed (Low Level) Reopened (Low Level) |
Liverpool Central railway station is a railway station in Liverpool, England, and forms the central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line.
Liverpool Central is one of six stations on the Merseyrail network to incorporate automatic ticket barriers. The main concourse is part of a shopping centre. The station also includes a subway link to Lewis's department store. Liverpool Central will be refurbished as part of the multi-million pound Central Village development. In the 2008/2009 season, Liverpool Central station was by far the busiest railway station in Liverpool city centre, despite being considerably smaller than Liverpool Lime Street station.
History
High Level Terminal Station
The original station, which was a large above ground terminal station, opened on 2 March 1874, at the end of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line to Manchester Central. It replaced Brunswick station as the CLC's terminus, and became the headquarters of the committee. The three-storey building fronted Ranelagh Street in the city centre, with a Template:Ft to m high, arched shed behind.
There were 6 platforms within the station, offering journeys to Manchester Central (in 45 mins; making the route the quickest and most direct), London St. Pancras, Hull, Harwich, Stockport Tiviot Dale, Southport Lord Street and an alternative route to that of the Midland Railway terminating at London Marylebone.
The station was always busy, up until nationalisation, but as with many other stations in the UK, fell victim to the Beeching Axe, as the routes served could be taken from nearby Liverpool Lime Street. In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Liverpool Lime Street via the Allerton Curve, leaving only a dozen urban commuter trains per day to and from Gateacre. These final services were withdrawn on 17 April 1972 with a promise to reinstate the Gateacre route when the Merseyrail metro network was completed in 1978.
The High Level station was demolished in 1973, after having served a short time as a car park, although some former station buildings remained while work was in progress on rebuilding the underground station in the mid seventies.
The station's demolition was unfortunate, as the large trainshed could have possibly have been developed into something of similar use, to that of Manchester Central in Manchester, which had been the Cheshire Lines Committee's Manchester Central up until 1969. The area of the train shed now forms the centre of the Central Village development.
Underground Station Added
On 11 January 1892 Liverpool Central Low Level station opened, at the end of the Mersey Railway's route, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel from Birkenhead, when the route was extended from James Street. The Mersey Railway platforms were underground, accessed from stairs within the High Level station. They were situated in roughly the same position as the escalators accessing the Merseyrail Northern Line today.
The Mersey Railway tunnel was aligned with the high level station's approach tunnel from the south. This was to ensure minimum engineering work if ever there was to be a link up of the two tunnels. The forward thinking of the Victorian engineers paid dividends when the two tunnels were linked in the 1970s.
Merseyrail Metro
In the 1970s, the Merseyrail network was created by merging separate railways into one comprehensive network. Central underground station would service the Northern Line and Wirral Lines.
A new loop tunnel was built in Liverpool city centre for Wirral Line trains, linking James Street with Moorfields, Lime Street, Liverpool Central and returning to James Street. A new deep-level underground platform was built at Liverpool Central as part of this loop tunnel.
The former CLC route was taken underground connecting to the underground Mersey Railway platforms. Another new tunnel, the Link Tunnel allowed trains to continue northwards via Moorfields to the approach lines to Liverpool Exchange, creating one long line from Hunts Cross to Southport. Liverpool Exchange terminal station was closed in 1977. This route became the Merseyrail Northern Line. The rebuilt underground station opened in 1977.
In the original 1970s Merseyrail plan, southbound trains would have continued to Warrington and Manchester; however, services terminated at Garston (but were later extended to Hunts Cross). At the same time, works to allow the Merseyrail Northern Line to be connected to the Victoria Tunnel were put in place, but were later abandoned. This would have allowed trains to operate to St Helens.
On 26 October 2005 a Wirral Line train derailed on the approach to Liverpool Central en route from Liverpool Lime Street.[1] There were no serious injuries; however, the design of the Liverpool Loop meant that all Wirral Line services through the Loop were suspended for the remainder of the week, terminating at James Street.
The statistics for interchanges at this station excludes exchanges between trains, estimated at around 2 million,[2] and concessionary pass holders.
Facilities
At street level is a travel centre opened in November 2009 which sells tickets, newspapers, food and drink, replacing the former ticket office and newsagents. There are also toilets, cash and food vending machines. Escalators and lifts lead to the 2 Northern Line platforms and the deep-level Wirral Line platform.
Future
There are plans to develop the car park behind Central Station (bounded by the rear of the station, Cropper Street, Newington and Bold Street) into Central Village. The 'village' will consist of a high rise tower for residential and business use, retail outlets, bars and restaurants and will also have a canal running the length of Bold Street. Planning permission has been granted to develop this area, which has been relatively derelict since the demolition of the High Level Station in the 1970s.[3]
Station improvements
On 27 December 2007, Bart Schmeink, Merseyrail's managing director, pledged a major overhaul of Liverpool’s Loop Line underground stations.[4] The plans would see makeovers at Liverpool Central, Moorfields and Lime Street stations, with Merseyrail stating that they were 'seeking ways to expand passenger capacity from around 35,000 a day to 50,000. Changes to the booking hall at Liverpool Central were implemented in November 2009. In 2009 the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment, and was set to receive a share of £50m funding for improvements.[5] Longer term plans suggested that there should be a new platform and an extra tunnel – or even a whole new station.[6] The Liverpool Central upgrade plan was threatened with cancellation in June 2010, when the previously-announced funding was withdrawn as part of a £100m cutback in Network Rail's spending ordered by the Con-Lib coalition government. [7] However, Merseytravel subsequently announced that alternative funding had been found and the redevelopment would go ahead, albeit on a reduced budget.[8]
Services
On the Northern Line, off-peak service level is as follows:
- 4 trains per hour (tph) to Southport
- 4 tph to Ormskirk
- 4 tph to Kirkby
- 4 tph to Hunts Cross via Liverpool South Parkway
During late evenings, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph on the Kirkby and Ormskirk branches; the Southport and Hunts Cross service retains 4 tph.
Sunday services reflect the evening service, but the service from Southport to Hunts Cross is also reduced to 2 tph except for summer Sundays when it remains at 4 tph between Liverpool Central and Southport.
On the Wirral Line, off-peak service level is as follows:
- 4 tph to New Brighton
- 4 tph to West Kirby
- 4 tph to Hooton of which:
- 2 tph continue to Chester
- 2 tph continue to Ellesmere Port
During late evenings and on Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph on all branches.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brunswick | Merseyrail Northern Line Hunts Cross-Southport |
Moorfields | ||
| Terminus | Merseyrail Northern Line Liverpool-Kirkby/Ormskirk |
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| Liverpool Lime Street | Merseyrail Wirral Line |
James Street | ||
References
- ^ "Rush-hour commuter train derailed". BBC News. 2005-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Station Usage 2005/06" (PDF). DeltaRail National Rail usage statistics (2005/2006). DeltaRail. 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Katie Daubney (2009-05-12). "Go-ahead for Liverpool Central Village". PlanningResource. Retrieved 20009-11-17.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Merseyrail chief vows major overhaul of ageing Loop Line". Retrieved 2007-12-27.
- ^ "£50m revamp for 'worst stations'". BBC News. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ "Liverpool's Central station to get funding boost after being named one of UK's worst". Liverpool Daily Post. November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
- ^ "Liverpool Central station revamp shelved by Con-LibDem government". Liverpool Echo. 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "Central Station Development goes ahead!". Merseytravel. 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
External links
- Train times and station information for Liverpool Central railway station from National Rail
- Station information from Merseyrail
- History of Central station
- Report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into 26 October 2005 derailment. (PDF format)
