Liverpool Central railway station
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Liverpool Central railway station in
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 ...
, England, forms a central hub 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, being on both the
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 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 ...
. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline terminus. It is the busiest station in Liverpool, though considerably smaller than
Lime Street station 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 ...
, the mainline terminus, and the busiest station to operate fully the Merseyrail network. The station is the busiest underground station outside London serving 40,000 people daily. The station in passengers per platform is the busiest underground railway station in the United Kingdom at 5,217,547 per platform per annum and laying third in all stations, underground or overground. Liverpool Central is one of nine stations on the Merseyrail network to incorporate automatic
ticket gate A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce One-way traffic#One-way traffic of peopl ...
s. The main concourse is part of a shopping centre, and includes a closed subway link to the former
Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
department store.


History


High Level terminal station

The original station, which was a large, above-ground terminal station, opened on 2 March 1874, at the end of the
Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...
(CLC) line to Manchester Central. It replaced Brunswick station as the CLC's Liverpool terminus, becoming the headquarters of the committee. The three-storey building fronted Ranelagh Street in the city centre, with a high, arched iron and glass train shed behind. There were six platforms within the station, offering journeys to Manchester Central (in 45 minutes, making the route the quickest and most direct between Liverpool and Manchester),
London St. Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...
, Hull,
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
, , and an alternative London route to that of the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
, terminating at
London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern te ...
. Until the
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 ...
of Britain's railways, the station was always busy, but as with many other stations in the UK, it was closed under the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
, as the routes served could be taken from nearby . In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Lime Street via the
Hunts Cross chord Hunts Cross chord is a section of railway track in Liverpool that was built by the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) to connect the LNWR's Edge Hill to Ditton Junction line with the CLC's Liverpool to Manchester Line. Mainline services between M ...
, leaving only a dozen urban commuter trains per day to and from . These final services were withdrawn on 17 April 1972, with a promise to reinstate the Gateacre route when 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 was completed in 1978. The High Level station was demolished in 1973, having served a short time as a car park, although some former station buildings remained while work was in progress on rebuilding the underground station in the mid-1970s. The area of the train shed now forms the centre of the stalled Central Village development.


Underground urban station

Liverpool Central Low Level underground terminal station opened on 11 January 1892, at the end of the
Mersey Railway 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 ...
's route, 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 ...
from
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
, when the route was extended from James Street station. The Mersey Railway platforms were underground, accessed from stairs within the High Level station and situated in roughly the same position as the escalators accessing the
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 ...
today. The Mersey Railway tunnel entering Central Low Level from the north of the station was aligned with the High Level station's approach tunnel from the south. This was to ensure minimum engineering work if ever the two tunnels were to be linked up—as did occur in the 1970s.


Merseyrail

The Merseyrail network was created in the 1970s by merging separate railways into one integrated network. Central underground station would service the Northern and
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 ...
s. A new loop tunnel was built in Liverpool city centre for Wirral Line trains, linking James Street station with
Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...
, Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations, and returning to James Street. A new deep-level underground platform was built at Liverpool Central as part of this loop tunnel. The former CLC route was taken underground connecting to the underground Mersey Railway platforms. Another new tunnel, the Link Tunnel, allowed trains to continue northwards via to the approach lines to Liverpool Exchange, creating one long line from Hunts Cross to Southport. Liverpool Exchange terminal station was closed in 1977; this route became the Northern Line. The rebuilt underground station was opened 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 ...
in the same year. In the original 1970s Merseyrail plan, southbound trains would have continued to
Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
and Manchester; however, services terminated at Garston, then later extended to . Simultaneously, works to allow the Northern Line to be connected to the Victoria Tunnel, called the Edge Hill Spur, to connect the eastern section of the city to the city centre underground section were undertaken, then later abandoned. Trains would have operated from Central station to the east of the city and out to St Helens.


2012 refurbishment

It was announced in September 2011 that, through a £40 million investment from
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
, Liverpool Central was to have a major refurbishment programme to improve the concourse and platforms. Works included new lighting, flooring, new toilet facilities and new escalators to the Northern Line platforms. The entire station closed for refurbishment on 23 April 2012. The station partly reopened on 25 August 2012, with the refurbishment of the main concourse and Wirral Line platform completed. The station fully reopened on 22 October 2012 with the work on the Northern Line platforms completed.


Facilities

A street-level travel centre opened in November 2009, replacing the former ticket office and newsagents; this sells tickets, newspapers, food and drink. There are also toilets,
cash machines An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
, free Wifi and food-vending machines. Escalators and lifts lead to the two Northern Line platforms and the deep-level Wirral Line platform. There are cycle racks for 30 cycles and secure storage for 16 cycles.


Future

The Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy document, produced by Merseytravel in 2014, states that it hopes to re-open the
Wapping Tunnel Wapping or Edge Hill Tunnel in Liverpool, England, is a tunnel route from the Edge Hill junction in the east of the city to the Liverpool south end docks formerly used by trains on the Liverpool-Manchester line railway. The tunnel alignm ...
to allow Liverpool Central to connect with Edge Hill and beyond. Merseytravel commissioned a feasibility study into a new rail link between Central and Edge Hill, which was completed in May 2016. The report found that the Wapping Tunnel was in good condition—though suffering from flooding in places and requiring some remedial work—and that the concept of re-opening the tunnel was viable. Plans were developed in 2006 to build a shopping complex on the site of the car park behind the former High Level station (bounded by the rear of the station, Cropper Street, Newington and Bold Street). Known as Central Village, it was to consist of a high-rise tower for residential and business use, retail outlets, bars and restaurants and was also to have a canal running the length of Bold Street. Development of the site was troubled, with delays caused by parties involved going into receivership and potential tenants pulling out. In September 2017, new owner Augur announced plans to develop the site while leaving space for the expansion of the station, potentially seeing new platforms built. Augur stated it had discussed its plans with Network Rail and Liverpool City Council, and hoped to have planning permission submitted during 2018. Network Rail was scheduled to install an extra lift giving access to the Northern Line platforms in 2016/17. No work had begun by the end of 2016; the Transport Minister,
Paul Maynard Paul Christopher Maynard (born 16 December 1975) is a British politician who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Parliam ...
, confirmed that owing to funding issues, work would not start until 2019 at the earliest. The ''Liverpool Echo'' published an article in October 2018 which claimed that unless the station was redeveloped to increase capacity it would be facing restrictions on passenger movement. Merseyrail managing director Andy Heath suggested that by the mid 2020s passengers could end up having to queue upstairs as the platforms would have insufficient capacity. Merseyrail chairman Cllr Liam Robinson stated that, due to the potential size of the works, Merseytravel were in discussions with the government over their plans to expand the station. Plans could include a new concourse and new platforms as well as making use of a previously constructed but unused tunnel portal to the east of the underground station.


Services

Both lines on the Merseyrail network, the Northern Line and the Wirral Line, serve the station. On the Northern Line, off-peak service level is as follows: * 4 trains per hour to * 4 trains per hour to * 4 trains per hour to * 4 trains per hour to via On Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 trains per hour on all routes. On the Wirral Line, off-peak service level is as follows: * 4 trains per hour to * 4 trains per hour to * 4 trains per hour to * 2 trains per hour to During the evening and on Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 trains per hour on all routes. 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 ...
. Northern Line Services use platforms 1 and 2 at the station. Usually trains to Kirkby and Hunts Cross depart from platform 1, and trains to Southport and Ormskirk use platform 2, although delays on the trains can cause these to change. All Wirral Line services depart from platform 3.


Northern to Wirral services

Empty Coaching Stock (non-passenger) services have to reverse at Liverpool Central station, when going from Kirkdale Depot to
Birkenhead North TMD Birkenhead North TMD is a traction maintenance depot, which is owned by Network Rail and operated by Stadler. Located opposite Birkenhead North railway station, it is currently responsible for servicing and stabling Merseyrail's fleet of Cla ...
and ''vice versa'', making use of a single track chord known as the "Stock Interchange Line" linking Liverpool James Street station (Wirral Line) and Liverpool Central (Northern Line). No passenger services are scheduled to use the link, although it has seen very occasional use by charter trains."Third Rail Centenary Tracker"
'Heyevents'' 7 February 2016; Retrieved 18 May 2016 This was the route taken by Wirral Line trains between Central L.L & James Street prior to the building of the Link & Loop tunnels in the 1970s.


See also

*
List of underground stations of the Merseyrail network This article lists the six underground stations and five below ground level stations of the Merseyrail network which is centred on Liverpool, England. Underground stations Sub-surface stations - built in cuttings Former stations Merseytr ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links


History of Central stationReport
by the
Rail Accident Investigation Branch The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is a British government agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required by ...
into 26 October 2005 derailment. (
PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
format) {{Railway stations served by Merseyrail
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
Railway stations in Liverpool DfT Category B stations Former Mersey Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1892 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1975 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1977 Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations served by Merseyrail Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom