Ormskirk railway station in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, is a

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the Uni ...

between

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 ...

services from

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 ...

and

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

services from Preston on the

Ormskirk branch line The Ormskirk branch line is a railway line in Lancashire, England, running between Preston and Ormskirk. The train service is operated by Northern Trains, who usually operate class 150, 156, and 158 units. The line is the northern section of th ...

, northeast of Liverpool. The station building and three arch road bridge are both

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

structures.

History

The station was built by the

East Lancashire Railway East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street railway station, Bury Bolton Street, ...

's Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Junction section, and opened on 2 April 1849. From 13 May 1859, the station was owned by the

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 ...

. From 1 January 1923 the station was owned by 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 ...

British Railways 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 ...

nationalised all railways on 1 January 1948 and the station became part of the

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

. A branch line to via was opened by the ELR in March 1858 shortly before it was absorbed by the L&YR – this left the main line to Preston just to the north of the station. The line from Liverpool was subsequently

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in 1913, with the suburban

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 genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

s using a bay platform at the southern end of the station to keep them clear of the busy main line to Preston, which was used as the L&Y's principal route to East Lancashire, the Fylde,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

1977

The original Liverpool terminus of the line () was closed in 1977, when the route became one of the three branches of the new

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 ...

and trains began running to a new underground terminus at Liverpool Central. Since 1996, it has been part of the Merseyrail franchise currently (2016) run by Serco-Abellio.

Station layout

The current station consists of a single platform. An interesting characteristic is how the electric Merseyrail track and the unelectrified Northern track is on the same alignment, with electric and diesel trains using opposite ends of the same platform. The line is cut by a large

buffer Buffer may refer to: Science * Buffer gas, an inert or nonflammable gas * Buffer solution, a solution used to prevent changes in pH * Buffering agent, the weak acid or base in a buffer solution * Lysis buffer, in cell biology * Metal ion buffer * ...

separating the track sections. Passengers wishing to transfer from an electric train to diesel train walk a dozen yards or so along the same platform to move between trains. A similar layout exists at Kirkby station. Prior to the

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

of 1963 and the subsequent restructuring of the rail network, there were two main through platforms. The electric Liverpool commuter trains would pull into the southern bay platform. This practice ended following the withdrawal of through trains between Liverpool and Preston via this route. Local services from Preston, East Lancashire & Blackpool towards Liverpool were either withdrawn or terminated at Ormskirk from October 1969 with the last through trains running on 3 May 1970. From the 4 May 1970, the line was split with all trains using the former Liverpool platform (the Preston-bound platform remains, however is disused). The bay platform is now a footpath leading to the bus station. Only a single Merseyrail 3rd rail electric line runs into the platform, the route towards Liverpool becomes double immediately outside the station. The line from Ormskirk to Preston has been single track since the summer of 1970, except for a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

at . The former link between Ormskirk and Southport, via the

Burscough Curves Burscough Junction pronounced (Burs/co Junction) is one of two railway stations serving the town of Burscough in Lancashire, England. It is sited on the Ormskirk Branch Line, north of and is served by Northern Trains. The station was the scen ...

, was closed in 1962. The

Skelmersdale Branch The Skelmersdale branch was a standard gauge railway (SKE) which connected the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway at Ormskirk with Rainford Junction via Skelmersdale. At Rainford it connected with the Liverpool and Bury Railway and the St. ...

has also been lost, having closed to passengers in 1956 and to all traffic seven years later. It was lifted in 1968, though the Burscough curves remained extant until the mid-1980s.

Facilities

The station underwent a £1.5 million renovation during 2009. Among the refurbishments include a new booking hall, waiting room, toilet facilities, ticket counters and new automatic swinging doors, as well as a remodelled and landscaped path and bicycle route up to the bus interchange. The station is classed as eco-friendly and gets its green credentials by using a system that harvests rainwater, as well as other various energy-saving measures. During October & November 2018 the height, width and layout of the platforms were adjusted to prepare for Merseyrail's new fleet of trains which are due to be introduced from 2020. The station is staffed, 15 minutes before the first train and 15 minutes after the last train, and has platform CCTV. There is a payphone, waiting room, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. The station has a free car park, with 108 spaces, as well as a 2-space cycle rack and secure storage for 28 cycles. The station and platforms have full disabled access but the car park has uneven ramp access.

Services

Services to Liverpool Central operate frequently, running every 15 minutes during the day (Mon-Sat) and every 30 minutes at other times (evenings and Sundays). Services to Preston now run hourly Monday–Saturday (since the May 2018 timetable change). There is no Sunday service.

Future

There have been calls from local authorities and the local rail user group to reopen both curves at Burscough to allow the reinstatement of through trains from Ormskirk to Southport, as well as to reinstate through services between Preston and Liverpool via Ormskirk and to rebuild and reopen the Skelmersdale branch. Merseytravel's 2014 Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy does not back plans for an Ormskirk to Skelmersdale route (instead proposing that the link be provided from the to Wigan Wallgate line), but it suggests that a new bi-level interchange at Burscough Bridge could be built, to provide improved interchange facilities between the Ormskirk branch and the Wigan to Southport line, in addition to reopening the curves and extending electrification through to Preston and Southport. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, page 37, states a review to introduce new Merseyrail battery trains will be undertaken in 2020, in view to put Preston interchange station onto the Merseyrail network by extending the Merseyrail Northern Line from Ormskirk to Preston. The aim is to have Preston one of the terminals of the Northern Line, with Burscough Junction, Rufford and

Croston Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917. History Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...

stations brought onto the Merseyrail network. The document states, ''"The potential use of battery powered Merseyrail units may improve the business case"''.

Gallery

File:Ormskirk Station.jpg, Ormskirk railway station on a postcard dated 1915. The station's layout today is much reduced. File:Ormskirk railway station 1973.jpg, A view of the station in 1973, before a passing loop was removed. File:Ormskirk railway station 2009 b.JPG, The entrance to the station's ticket hall, which was refurbished in 2009. File:150142 at Ormskirk.JPG, A

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

Class 150 waits with a service to Preston on the Ormskirk branch line.

References

External links

* {{Railway stations served by Merseyrail Ormskirk Railway stations in the Borough of West Lancashire DfT Category D stations Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Railway stations served by Merseyrail Northern franchise railway stations Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849