Rock Ferry railway station is situated in the

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 ...

area of

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 Liv ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

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 ...

. The station lies south west of on the

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

branches 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, wi ...

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 el ...

network. The station has an island platform with four platforms in total and four tracks. Two platforms are unused with two tracks used for train stabling. The

Birkenhead Dock Branch Birkenhead Dock Branch is a disused railway line running from the South junction of Rock Ferry, to the site of the former Bidston Dock on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The branch is approximately in length. Although called a branch, the l ...

line branched off the line south of the station, with freight trains passing to the western side of the station. The freight line fell into disuse in 1993.

History

Rock Ferry station first opened on 31 October 1862 replacing Rock Lane on the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. In 1891 it became an interchange as the terminus of the largely underground urban

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 T ...

line from Liverpool via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, when the line extended south from its previous terminus at Green Lane station. The Mersey Railway was converted to electric train services from steam in 1903. The station was also a through stop and interchange on the

to Birkenhead Woodside terminal station non-electric line giving connections to the Mersey Railway. Until 1967 Rock Ferry was the first stop out of Birkenhead Woodside on the former GWR main line from Birkenhead Woodside to

London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great W ...

. All long-distance services called at Rock Ferry to give interchange connections with the Mersey railway for Liverpool bound passengers. From 1967 with the closure of Birkenhead Woodside station the Rock Ferry station became a 100% terminus and interchange station for electric services from the north from Liverpool's city centre and diesel trains services from the south from

and

Helsby Helsby is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlooking the Mersey estuary, it is approximately north east of Chester and south we ...

. The electric services to Liverpool were integrated into the

urban network in the 1970s becoming the

. In 1985 the Merseyrail Wirral Line was extended to Hooton, Chester and Ellesmere Port from Rock Ferry with the station becoming fully integrated into the Merseyrail urban network. This integration transformed Rock Ferry into a through-station. The first Merseyrail section extension was to Hooton in 1985, then to

in 1993 and finally

in 1994. The section of line from Ellesmere Port to Helsby was not electrified with the line having only a 'Parliamentary' service. Recent refurbishment work to the station has included the restoration of a building on the island platform and installation of a fully accessible toilet and waiting room. The booking hall and entrance have also benefited from improved security and lighting. The old Merseyrail terminating tracks are now used as stabling sidings with the platforms only having one or two passenger services to Liverpool starting in the early in the morning. Platform 3 is only used once a day from Monday to Saturday before 0600 and Platform 4 is used twice before 0800 on Sundays.

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 ...

. 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 debi ...

, 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 fi ...

and a booking office. Each of the two remaining former GWR/LMS Joint platforms now in use has sheltered seating and live departure and arrival screens, the Liverpool-bound platform retaining its canopy; the two bay platforms which were formerly used by the Mersey Railway are now used primarily for carriage storing; the two further former GWR/LMS Joint platforms are abandoned and out of use. The station has a free

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 ...

, with 25 spaces; it also has secure cycle storage for 24 cycles. Access to the station is by ramp. The only access to the Chester/Ellesmere Port bound 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), ce ...

s or prams is via a stepped ramp.

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes between Chester and Liverpool on weekdays and Saturdays until late evening when the service becomes half-hourly, as it is on Sundays. Additionally there is a half-hourly service between Liverpool and Ellesmere Port all day, every day. Northbound trains operate via Hamilton Square station in

and 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 T ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Southbound trains all proceed as far as Hooton, where the lines to

and

divide. 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 ...

Gallery

File:Rock Ferry 6 80527 1.jpg, Looking south. Interchange between Merseyrail trains, at the buffers to the right, and the diesel trains in June 1980. Image:24.09.83 Rock Ferry Class 503s (6887477111).jpg, Looking north. A

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 ra ...

Class 503 Merseyrail train at Rock Ferry, in 1983. Buffers are just off the bottom of the picture. Image:Rock Ferry Railway Station, Birkenhead (geograph 2986376).jpg, A

Class 507 departs towards

Bebington Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsul ...

. Image:To stabling, Rock Ferry Station, Birkenhead (geograph 2986386).jpg, A

Class 508 pulls into the stabling siding platforms at Rock Ferry. Image:Rock Ferry railway station 190909.JPG, The platform and footbridge.

References

External links