Allerton TMD is a

railway depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

situated in Allerton,

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 ...

. Situated opposite

Liverpool South Parkway Liverpool South Parkway station (Formerly Allerton railway station), is a railway station and bus interchange in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link, Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of ...

bus and rail interchange, it is visible from trains which are travelling between the former and and the overhead passageway above platforms 1 to 4 at Liverpool South Parkway. The depot is located less than from the Freightliner intermodal terminal at

Garston Docks The Port of Garston, also known as Garston Docks is an enclosed tidal dock system on the River Mersey at Garston, approx 6 miles from Liverpool City centre Liverpool, England. It is operated by Associated British Ports History Garston Dock w ...

and is also from the Stobart Rail intermodal depot in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

. During the days of steam locomotive operation, the

shed code British Railways shed codes were used to identify the motive power depot, engine sheds that its locomotives and multiple units were allocated to for maintenance purposes. The former London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) alpha-numeric system w ...

was 8H between 1960 and 1963 and 8J between 1963 and 1973. Since 1973, when

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

was introduced, Allerton's depot code has been AN.

History

During the

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 ...

era, Allerton depot was responsible for maintaining all of the main line and shunting locomotives which were operating in the Liverpool area, having an allocation of Class 08 diesel shunters and a wheel lathe.

Users

Merseyrail

Until 2006, when a new wheel lathe was installed at Merseyrail's Kirkdale depot,

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 ...

's Class 507 and 508

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s were regularly sent to Allerton for wheel turning, being transferred via the crossover at Hunts Cross. Other units, including

Virgin CrossCountry Virgin CrossCountry was a train operating company in the United Kingdom operating the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Virgin CrossCountry operated some of the longest direct rail services in th ...

's Class 220 and

221 __NOTOC__ Year 221 (Roman numerals, CCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Vitellius (or, less frequently, ...

diesel electric multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s (servicing only) and

goods wagon Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...

s and

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s, have previously been stabled here.

Northern Rail

From March 2011 until 31 March 2016, the depot was operated by

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 ...

. In 2011, it was announced that

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 ...

had purchased the then closed Allerton TMD with the intention of refurbishing and reopening the depot for servicing of

's fleet of Class 156 ''Super Sprinter''

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s and the planned allocation of units, which were to cascade to Northern Rail for planned electrified services. Previously owned by the

English Welsh and Scottish Railway English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Allerton TMD re-opened on 10 December 2011. The first Class 319 units entered traffic in March 2015 with the completion of the first phase of the North West Electrification programme.

Arriva Rail North

On 1 April 2016, when the new Northern franchise period commenced, operation of Allerton transferred to

Arriva Rail North Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operato ...

. The depot retained its allocation of 29 Class 156

DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

and twenty Class 319/3

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 ...

, with an additional twelve Class 319s being allocated to the depot during 2017. Whilst not on the depot's allocation, units are stabled here overnight on weeknights after completing a to service. Allerton's allocation of Class 156 units transferred to Newton Heath in 2018.

Northern Trains

On 1 March 2020 the Northern franchise was taken over by

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) ...

as an Operators last choice by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

and the operation of Allerton transferred to Northern Trains. Allerton is allocated , , and units.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book, title=BR Depots, first=Colin J., last=Marsden, series=Motive power recognition, volume=6, publisher=Ian Allan, year=1987, isbn=9780711017191, oclc=18685680 Railway depots in England Rail transport in Liverpool