Borderlands line: Difference between revisions
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==Development== |
==Development== |
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The Wirral's other railway routes are provided with frequent electric trains. The Borderlands Line has a relatively infrequent diesel operated service. |
The Wirral's other railway routes are provided with frequent [[Merseyrail]] electric trains. The Borderlands Line has a relatively infrequent diesel operated service. |
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Proposals exist to electrify some or all of the line and incorporate it into the [[Wirral Line]] of the [[Merseyrail]] network, allowing through services to Birkenhead and Liverpool with new stations at Deeside Industrial Park, Woodchurch and Beechwood, but nothing definitive has been confirmed. In August 2006 it was announced there would be a feasibility study into the 3rd-rail electrification of the line.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.penmorfa.com/Wrexham/electrify.html|title=The Wrexham to Bidston railway (The Borderlands line): Electrification plans|accessdate=17 February 2007}}</ref> |
Proposals exist to electrify some or all of the line and incorporate it into the [[Wirral Line]] of the [[Merseyrail]] network, allowing through services to Birkenhead and Liverpool with new stations at Deeside Industrial Park, Woodchurch and Beechwood, but nothing definitive has been confirmed. In August 2006 it was announced there would be a feasibility study into the 3rd-rail electrification of the line.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.penmorfa.com/Wrexham/electrify.html|title=The Wrexham to Bidston railway (The Borderlands line): Electrification plans|accessdate=17 February 2007}}</ref> |
Revision as of 13:07, 29 May 2012
Borderlands Line | |
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Overview | |
Owner | Network Rail |
Locale | Wrexham Flintshire Cheshire Merseyside |
Termini | |
Stations | 15 with Wrexham General and Shotton as interchanges with main line services |
Service | |
Type | Heavy rail |
System | National Rail |
Operator(s) | Arriva Trains Wales |
Rolling stock | Class 150 Sprinter |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 56.5 (standard gauge) |
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The Borderlands Line (Welsh: Llinell y Gororau) is the railway line between Wrexham, Wales, and Bidston, Wirral, England.
Passenger train services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales between Wrexham Central and Bidston. Trains run every hour Monday to Saturday daytime, every two hours after 18:45 and on Sundays. Connections with other National Rail services are at Bidston (for Merseyrail services to West Kirby, Birkenhead and Liverpool), Shotton (for Chester and the North Wales Coast Line) and Wrexham General (for the Shrewsbury-Chester Line).
The line is sometimes also referred to as the Mid Wirral Line.
Holders of the Concessionary Travel Pass resident in Wrexham and Flintshire can travel free along part of the line, from Wrexham Central Station to Hawarden Bridge Station.[1] Holders of the Merseytravel Concessionary Travel Pass can travel free along another part of the line, from Heswall Station to Bidston Station.
Passenger services
The train service is normally operated with Class 150s. It was formerly operated by Class 153s, but in October 2006 the operator started using Class 150s or paired Class 153 units, but the latter disappeared in favour of the Class 150s in December 2006.
Upon privatisation, passenger services were transferred from Regional Railways to North West Trains, later known as First North Western. In 2003, a review led to the creation of the All-Wales Franchise, meaning services were transferred to Wales & Borders Trains. Arriva Trains Wales succeeded Wales & Borders on 8 December 2003, and has operated all passenger services on the line since. Future electrification plans could see the line transfer to Merseyrail [2].
Infrastructure History
The southern part of the line was built by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR) and the northern part by the North Wales and Liverpool Railway, a joint committee of the WMCQR and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Both railways were acquired by the Great Central Railway on 1 January 1905.
Two Wirral stations on the line closed in the 1950s; Storeton in 1951 and Burton Point in 1955. No trace of the station at Storeton remains, yet Burton Point station is still almost entirely intact, the station buildings currently forming part of a garden centre.
Development
The Wirral's other railway routes are provided with frequent Merseyrail electric trains. The Borderlands Line has a relatively infrequent diesel operated service.
Proposals exist to electrify some or all of the line and incorporate it into the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network, allowing through services to Birkenhead and Liverpool with new stations at Deeside Industrial Park, Woodchurch and Beechwood, but nothing definitive has been confirmed. In August 2006 it was announced there would be a feasibility study into the 3rd-rail electrification of the line.[3]
There have been proposals included in the electrification plan for the construction of two new stations on the Wirral section of the line; Beechwood between Bidston and Upton to serve the Beechwood estate, and Woodchurch to serve Prenton, the Woodchurch estate and the North Cheshire Business Park as well as providing connections to and from most of West Wirral's bus services to Birkenhead, and to "park and ride" travellers from other parts of the Wirral via the M53 motorway.
References
- ^ "Borderlands Homepage".
- ^ "The Wrexham to Bidston railway (The Borderlands line): Electrification plans". Retrieved 17 February 2007.
- ^ "The Wrexham to Bidston railway (The Borderlands line): Electrification plans". Retrieved 17 February 2007.