Bache railway station serves the suburbs of
Bache
Places
*Bache, Cheshire
*Bache Peninsula, on Ellesmere Island, Canada
People
*Richard Bache (1737–1811), an American Postmaster General
* Sarah Franklin Bache (1743–1808), his wife and Benjamin Franklin's daughter
**Benjamin Franklin Bache ...
and
Upton-by-Chester
Upton-by-Chester is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the villages of Upton and Upton Heath.
Hist ...
in the north of the city of
Chester,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is the first station for
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line (Merseyrail ...
services leaving on the
Wirral Line
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with ...
. Passengers can alight here for the Countess of Chester Hospital which is close by, and regular bus services to
Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately .
Chester Zoo is ope ...
.
History
It opened in January 1984 by
British Rail in conjunction with a new supermarket being developed by Safeway (now Morrisons) 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
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
slabs that are laid on
brick piles. A remotely operated public address system was installed in January 2012 together with automatic train departure indicators.
This station superseded
Upton-by-Chester
Upton-by-Chester is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the villages of Upton and Upton Heath.
Hist ...
railway station which was sited to the north next to Liverpool Road
roadbridge. The relocation of the station produced an immediate and dramatic uplift in the number of passengers using it.
Facilities
The station has platform
CCTV, a 61-space
car park
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
and a
cycle rack with 20 spaces and secure cycle storage for 20 bikes. Each platform has a waiting shelter with seating. There are departure and arrival screens, on the platform, for passenger information. There is a
payphone, next to the entrance, on platform 1. There is ramp access, to each platform, for passengers with
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
s or
prams. However, cross-platform access, within the station, is by staircase only. Platform access has not been modernised to the standard of that at
Hooton.
Bache is one of four stations on the Merseyrail network that is Unstaffed, the others being
Capenhurst,
Little Sutton and
Overpool
Overpool is a village on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England. It is a suburb of Ellesmere Port, and part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester.
History
The name means "upper pool" and derives from the Old English words '' ...
. 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 the ticket-vending machine, before boarding a train. This is located on the Liverpool-bound platform.
Services
Trains operate every 15 minutes during the working day from Monday to Saturday southwards towards Chester and northwards towards
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
/
Liverpool Central
Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...
via
Hooton,
Rock Ferry
Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the ...
and
Birkenhead Central. Later in the evening and on Sundays the service is half-hourly. During the periods of quarter-hourly services alternate trains run through
Capenhurst non-stop between Hooton and Bache in each direction. These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of
Class 507 and
Class 508 EMUs.
Problems
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line (Merseyrail ...
leases Bache railway station car park from
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...
Supermarket. Rail users' vehicles parked in the supermarket's own parking area because of 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 wish to avoid a penalty ticket as well as 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.
Gallery
Image:Flora, Bache Railway Station (geograph 2986972).jpg, The end of the platform
Image:Platforms and footbridge, Bache Railway Station (geograph 2986973).jpg, Platforms and footbridge
Image:Bache railway station (13).JPG, A view in the opposite direction
image:Merseyrail Class 507(015) at Bache.jpg, A Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line (Merseyrail ...
Class 507 at the station
References
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Station on navigable O.S. map Bache south of marked Upton station
{{Railway stations served by Merseyrail
Railway stations in Cheshire
DfT Category F2 stations
Buildings and structures in Chester
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1984
Railway stations opened by British Rail
Railway stations served by Merseyrail