The Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway (LC&SR) received parliamentary authorization on 2 July 1847 and opened between Southport and Liverpool, on 24 July 1848. The Liverpool terminal was a temporary station on the viaduct passing near to Waterloo Goods station.

LC&SR later operations

The line was extended from Waterloo Goods Station to Liverpool Tithebarn Street/Liverpool Exchange, the station had two names, which later settled on the name

Liverpool Exchange station Liverpool Exchange railway station was a railway station located in the city centre of Liverpool, England. Of the four terminal stations in Liverpool's city centre, Exchange station was the only station not accessed via a tunnel. The station w ...

, on 13 May 1850. The original Southport terminus was at Eastbank Street, until that station was closed on the opening of the current

Chapel Street Chapel Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, running along the inner suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda and St Kilda East. Route Chapel Street is essentially straight and runs for over 4.14 kilometres along an approxim ...

station on 22 August 1851.

Operations by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

The LC&SR became part of 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 ...

(LYR), on 14 June 1855. The LYR electrified the line, using the third-rail system, and services started on 5 April 1904. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into 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 ...

in 1923.

British Railways and later operations

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 ...

followed in 1948, and the line was destined for closure under the 1960s Beeching plan but survived. In 1978 it became part 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's

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 ...

, operated 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 ...

until it was

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

in 1995. Since 2003 the line has been operated by the

Serco-Abellio Serco-Abellio (formerly Serco-NedRailways) is a joint venture between Serco and Abellio, each owning 50%. The joint venture formed and owns one train operating company in Northern England. It has operated the Merseyrail franchise since July ...

consortium as part of its contract to operate Merseyrail.

Stations on the Liverpool and Southport line

Stations on the line serve the following places: * Sandhills - Liverpool Docks *

Bank Hall Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...

- Liverpool Docks * Bootle Oriel Road - Bootle * Bootle New Strand - Bootle * Seaforth & Litherland - Seaforth & Litherland * Waterloo - Waterloo, Merseyside * Blundellsands & Crosby - Crosby & Blundellsands * Hall Road - Blundellsands * Hightown - Hightown * Altcar Rifle Range (closed 1921) * Formby Power Station (closed c.1944) *

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "For ...

- Formby * Freshfield - Freshfield *

Ainsdale Ainsdale is an area of Southport in Merseyside, England, situated three miles south of the centre of Southport. Originally in the Historic County of Lancashire, at the 2001 Census it had a population of 12,723. By the time of the 2011 census, on ...

- Ainsdale * Hillside - Ainsdale / Birkdale *

Birkdale Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...

- Birkdale * Southport Eastbank Street (closed 1851) - Southport * Southport Chapel Street - Southport

Notes

References

* *{{Butt-Stations

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20050905222645/http://www.southportmodelrailway.org.uk/History/history.html Historic transport in Merseyside Pre-grouping British railway companies Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Railway companies established in 1847 Railway lines opened in 1848 Railway companies disestablished in 1855 1847 establishments in England British companies established in 1847 British companies disestablished in 1855