Hillside railway station serves the southern half of the

Birkdale Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...

area of

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

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 located on the

branch of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a 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 and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

. It is the closest station to the

Royal Birkdale Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champ ...

golf course, and is extremely busy when major events (such as the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

) are held there.

History

Hillside opened in May 1926 as an intermediate station on the ex-

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(LYR) after the 1923 grouping into the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

, and long after the railway had originally opened in 1848. By this time, the area had developed into a sizable residential suburb of

Nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

followed in 1948 and in 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line (operated by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

until

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

in 1995).

Facilities

Safety and security features at this station include CCTV, an induction loop is installed, shelters and seats and a public telephone. There is no wheelchair access at this station, as the only access to the platforms is by stairs; the nearest stations with disabled access are Birkdale and Ainsdale. The ticket office is always staffed by at least one member of staff from before the start of train services until 00:30 each evening. There is cycle storage for 6 cycles and secure storage for 40 cycles. Merseytravel announced in April 2019 that they had been successful in a bid for funding lifts being installed at the station under the Department for Transport's ‘Access for All’ programme. The lifts are expected to be installed at some point over the following five years.

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday and on summer Sundays to

to the north, and to

Hunts Cross Hunt's Cross is a suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located on the southern edge of the city, bordered by the suburbs of Woolton, Allerton, Speke and Halewood and delineated by the West Coast Main Line, Hillfoot Avenue, Merseyrail Northern Line ...

via

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 ...

to the south. Winter Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.

Gallery

Image:Hillside Railway Station.jpg, The station ticket office, viewed from the road. Image:Platform building, Hillside Railway Station (geograph 2993486).jpg, The waiting room on the Southport-bound platform. Image:Main building, Hillside Railway Station (geograph 2993494).jpg, The booking office and footbridge, viewed from the platform. Image:To Hunts Cross, Hillside Railway Station (geograph 2993474).jpg, A Merseyrail Class 507 waits at the station.

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by Merseyrail Railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton DfT Category E stations Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1926 Railway stations served by Merseyrail