Canada Dock Branch

Canada Dock Branch
Liverpool–Manchester lines to Manchester│to Lime Street Edge Hill Broad Green Wavertree Technology Park Junction with LMR Edge Lane Stanley Stanley cattle yard Tue Brook Breck Road Walton & Anfield Spellow Northern line Sandhills Kirkdale to Kirkby and Ormskirk Atlantic Junction Bank Hall Canada Dock Junction with LCSR Bootle Balliol Road Bootle Oriel Road Alexandra Dock to Southport

The Canada Dock Branch is a 4 mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long railway line in Liverpool, England. The line runs from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock to the north. The line was originally built by the London and North Western Railway terminating at Canada Dock, with a latter extension added to Alexandra Dock and the MDHC railway lines. The line is not electrified.

History

The line opened in 1866 between Edge Hill and Canada Dock. On 5 September 1881 a line to Alexandra Dock was opened branch from the mainline at Atlantic Junction in a cutting bellow Kirkdale Station. On 1 May 1886 a junction with the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was opened from the Alexandra Branch.

By 31 May 1948 all the passenger stations on the line had closed. The line continued to be used by regular Liverpool Lime Street to Southport services, which operated primarily to provide a convenient connection to London trains. The service was withdrawn when the Merseyrail commuter network was created in 1977. A new Merseyrail underground station below the mainline Lime Street station gave access from Southport via the Merseyrail Northern Line and Wirral Line.

Today

Canada Dock branch passes under the Merseyrail Northern Line near Bailliol Rd entering the dock complex

The line is currently a busy freight-only line and is sometimes called the Bootle Branch or Seaforth Container Terminal Branch (SCT) providing the sole remaining rail connection to the Port of Liverpool.

Approximately 70% of the North West of England's freight runs through Liverpool. The Olive Mount chord at Edge Hill junction was re-opened in December 2008 to approximately double the Canada Dock branch's throughput of freight from the Port of Liverpool to the West Coast Main Line. The reinstatement of the chord is essential for existing port operations and will be ready for the 100% increase in freight when the planned Post-Panamax container terminal is ready at Seaforth Dock. The new container terminal will berth the world's largest container ships, transporting up to 14,000 containers per ship. A high throughput on the Canada Dock branch line is essential for efficient port operation.

It is hoped the Olive Mount chord reinstatement will remove large road vehicles from congested areas, such as Switch Island, giving many environmental benefits.

The future

The line is being seriously assessed for reopening to passengers. If diesel trains are used this would provide a limited service from Bootle Oriel Road to Liverpool Lime Street with connections to the diesel Merseyrail City Line. Bootle Oriel Road gives an inconvenient connection to the Northern Line. There are no platforms at Kirkdale station.

However, announced electrification and interest from Liverpool FC cast positive light on this line. On 16 July 2007 the Liverpool Daily Post reported that Liverpool FC may fund the reopening of the line to passenger services providing a direct rail link to the proposed Stanley Park Stadium. This was highlighted on the Network Rail North West development plan as a potential project to be undertaken by Network Rail, rather than Liverpool FC.

The Department for Transport's Rail electrification document of July 2009, states that the route to Liverpool Docks will be electrified. The Canada Dock Branch Line is the only line into the docks. From the document:

70. Electrification of this route will offer electric haulage options for freight.

There will be an alternative route to Liverpool docks for electrically-operated freight trains, and better opportunities of electrified access to the proposed freight terminal at Parkside near Newton-le-Willows.

The electrification of this line would greatly assist in recommissioning passenger trains, as costs would be reduced.

Merseyrail map.

Any electrification would most certainly be overhead wires to accommodate the freight trains. Dual voltage, overhead line and third rail, Merseyrail passenger trains may be used for this line. The Route Utilisation Strategy document makes note of the benefits of dual-voltage Electric multiple unit trains, which can be utilised on both the third rail Merseyrail network and future electrified lines which are likely to use overhead wires.

There is a serious suggestion to introduce passenger services on this line in the Local Transport Plan for Merseyside.

The line is the red line from Edge Hill to Canada Dock via Tuebrook. The branch after Kirkdale station is to Alexandra Dock.

External links

• Midland Railway distance diagram - Liverpool district
• LUPTS photo archive
• Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs: Memorandum by Merseytravel