Aintree Central railway station was a station located on the

North Liverpool Extension Line The North Liverpool Extension Line was a railway line in Liverpool, England in operation between 1879 and 1972. It was at one stage intended to become the eastern section of the Merseyrail Outer Loop, an orbital line circling the city. Histo ...

on Park Lane,

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

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 ...

, across Park Lane from the current Aintree station.

History

The station opened on 13 July 1880 as Aintree Racecourse for racedays at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...

. It was renamed Aintree on the opening of the

Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway was an early British railway company operating in the then county of Lancashire. It was constructed to link the Cheshire Lines Committee railway at Aintree to Southport. It operated from 1884 to 19 ...

on 1 September 1884. In 1950 it was renamed once more becoming Aintree Central. The line was opened by 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), in direct competition with the L&Y's Liverpool Exchange to Southport Chapel Street service. However, it was never as successful because the CLC's route was much longer than that of the L&Y, serving areas within South

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 ...

and along 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 L ...

, before going north again up to Aintree. On 7 January 1952 the

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 Southport Lord Street service ended, leaving Aintree Central as the terminus for all trains from

. The station finally closed to passengers on 7 November 1960 and then to race traffic in March 1963. It finally closed on 7 December 1964 with the withdrawal of freight traffic (except for private sidings). Today, no evidence of the station's existence remains, as the site is buried under an industrial estate, located off Park Lane.

References

Sources

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External links

Aintree Central via ''Disused Stations UK''

The station on an 1888-1913 Overlay OS Map via ''National Library of Scotland''

Photos of the station via ''ukurbex''

Remains of the station in 1986 via ''flickr''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aintree Central Railway Station Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1880 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1960 Former Cheshire Lines Committee stations Disused railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton