New Brighton railway station serves the suburb of New Brighton in

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England. It is situated at the end of the New Brighton branch of 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 ...

west of

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 ...

on 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.

History

The station was built as the terminus of the

Wirral Railway The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and ...

's route from

Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. Th ...

station, opening in 1888. Through services via the

Mersey Railway Tunnel The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tun ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

commenced in 1938, when 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 ...

electrified the line. The station had a goods yard, which closed on 30 October 1965. Between 1960 and 1971, diesel services on the

Borderlands A borderland or borderlands are the geographical space or zone around a territorial border. Borderland or borderlands may refer to: Places * Borderland, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia * Borderland (ele ...

Wrexham to Bidston line ran through to New Brighton. This arrangement started when the service was converted to diesel trains and the branch to Seacombe station which was used as the terminus in North Wirral was closed. The service on the last leg from Bidston to New Brighton was very little used, apart from on peak summer days, as most passengers from the west of the Wirral and North Wales were heading for Liverpool or Birkenhead. From 4 January 1971, the service was terminated at Birkenhead North and, from 2 October 1978, the terminus was cut back one more station to Bidston. From 1960, there was a direct diesel service from Chester Northgate station to New Brighton using mainly the Borderlands Line. The service ceased on 9 September 1968, before the closure of Northgate station. The diesel trains normally used the northern face of the island platform at New Brighton, with the electric services using the southern face. In 1983, work started on converting the old station master's house into a music recording studio. The studio opened for business in 1985 and was called Station House Studios.

Accidents and incidents

In 1986, Gary Kelly, a 16-year-old boy, died from electrocution at the station after fleeing from

Akinwale Arobieke Akinwale Oluwafolajimi Oluwatope Arobieke (born 15 July 1961) is a British convicted criminal. Known locally in North West England as Purple Aki, he is a tall bodybuilder who weighs . According to the ''Daily Mirror'', Arobieke became known ...

, known locally as Purple Aki, who was believed to have been intimidating him. Arobieke was convicted of manslaughter, but the conviction was quashed on appeal after it was ruled that Arobieke had committed no crime in "standing and looking into trains".

Facilities

The station is staffed, during all opening hours, and has platform

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

. There is a

payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic outdoor areas, with prepayment by inserting money (usually coins) or by billing a credit or debit ...

, a station cafe and a

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...

, as well as a

waiting room A waiting room or waiting hall is a building, or more commonly a part of a building or a room, where people sit or stand until the event or appointment for which they are waiting begins. There are two types of waiting room. One has individuals ...

and toilets. There is, also, a booking office, live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information, and the terminus island platform also has a further sheltered waiting area. The station has a drop-off point, and a cycle rack with four spaces and secure cycle storage for 10 cycles. The station has car parking for three vehicles. Both platforms and the ticket office are fully accessible to wheelchair users.

Services

Current service levels are every 15 minutes to Liverpool during Monday to Saturday daytime, and every 30 minutes at other times. These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{coord, 53.437, N, 3.049, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral DfT Category E stations Former Wirral Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1888 Railway stations served by Merseyrail New Brighton, Merseyside