Liverpool – Warrington – Manchester railway line

Liverpool Lime Street – Manchester Piccadilly
Route length:	56 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	Yes
Legend Liverpool Central Merseyrail Northern Line from Liverpool Central (deep) / Southport Liverpool St. James Liverpool Lime Street Brunswick Edge Hill to Manchester via Earlestown Wavertree St Michaels Mossley Hill Aigburth Sefton Park West Allerton Cressington Allerton Garston Liverpool South Parkway for Liverpool John Lennon Airport West Coast Main Line to London Euston Hunts Cross Halewood Hough Green Widnes Central Widnes Sankey Warrington Central Padgate Birchwood from / to Wigan Glazebrook to Stockport Salford Irlam Manchester Ship Canal Flixton Flixton Chassen Road Urmston Humphrey Park Trafford Park Euroterminal freight yard Manchester United FC stop on matchdays only from Liverpool via Earlestown Manchester Central Manchester Deansgate Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Huddersfield Line to York , Leeds and to Manchester Airport

The Liverpool – Warrington – Manchester line is one of the two rail connections between the English cities of Liverpool and Manchester . Compared to the northern one, which runs across Earlestown, it is longer, but has become more meaningful over the years. The express trains run almost exclusively on this route. It is owned by Network Rail, but operations are the responsibility of various railway companies such as Northern Rail , East Midlands Trains and First TransPennine Express .

history

The line was established in 1873 by the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) between Brunswick station in Liverpool and a temporary terminus at London Road - now the location of Piccadilly station - in Manchester. In 1874 the line was extended to Liverpool Central terminus in Liverpool city center and on July 1, 1880, trains were introduced to the new Manchester Central terminus, designed by Sir John Fowler . The Lime Street – Edge Hill section was opened in 1836 by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , whose route ran north via St Helens and Earlestown . This line then became the property of the London and North Western Railway . The CLC built a link, called Hunts Cross chord , between Garston (on the CLC line) and Edge Hill (on the LNWR line), but continued to run their trains to Liverpool Central. The passenger stations on the connecting line were only opened in the 20th century.

In 1892, Liverpool Central Station was given an underground through station through which the line ran under the Mersey to Birkenhead .

After the nationalization of the various railway companies to form British Rail , this now had several connections and stations in both cities. Although the line over Warrington became more important for traffic than the one over Earlestown, the Beeching ax shut down numerous lines and stations. In 1969, after a decision that the city had too many stations, Manchester Central Station was shut down and converted into the G-Mex convention center, which still has the structures of the glass hall to this day. The trains were now led to Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations .

In 1972 the last hour also struck for the above-ground section of Liverpool Central Station after operations had been significantly reduced six years earlier. The long-distance trains were all led to Lime Street station, and the local trains were assigned to the newly created, S-Bahn-like Merseyrail , which now only used the underground section of Central station from 1977. In the same year, a circular line that connects Central with Lime Street train station was put into operation. The trains from Manchester have been using the Hunts Cross chord since 1966 to reach Lime Street station instead of the above-ground part of Liverpool Central, and they also serve the adjacent stations. The route to Central became part of the Merseyrail in 1977, which also offers train connections to Southport . The remaining twelve daily local trains to Gateacre were canceled in 1972, the station shut down and demolished. After the fallow area served as a parking lot for a while, it is now being built over with the Central Village project , which provides for a new district with offices, shopping centers and apartments on the site of the former terminus station.

In 2006, Liverpool South Parkway long-distance and regional train station opened, replacing Garston and Allerton stations . South Parkway has the advantage of being on the Manchester route, the West Coast Main Line and the Merseyrail. From here there are shuttle buses to Liverpool John Lennon Airport . The station is served not only by all trains on the line to Warrington – Manchester, but also on the West Coast Main Line towards Birmingham New Street, with the exception of the Pendolinos on Virgin Trains .

business

The operation of the double-track line is carried out by three railway companies, which send a total of four trains per hour over the route on weekdays: Northern Rail , First TransPennine Express and East Midlands Trains .

Northern Rail

Northern Rail operates trains every half hour (hourly on Sundays) between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Oxford Road . The trains have different stop frequencies, but all stations except Glazebrook , Humphrey Park and Trafford Park , all of which are only served at peak times, as well as Manchester United FC Halt , which is only served on ManUnited match days, stop at least every hour. These trains are mostly driven with outdated rolling stock of classes 142 , 150 and 156 .

East Midlands Trains

East Midlands Trains operate the route every hour with a pair of Liverpool Lime Street – Manchester Piccadilly trains, which are then tied through to Norwich with stops in Sheffield and Nottingham . These trains are run on class 158 rolling stock . Trains stop at Liverpool South Parkway, Widnes and Manchester Oxford Road.

First TransPennine Express

The First TransPennine Express, which is the only company to carry modern class 185 rolling stock on the route, serves the line every hour with a pair of trains between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly with stops in Liverpool South Parkway, Birchwood and Manchester Oxford Road. The trains will then run via Manchester to Scarborough via Leeds and York or to Hull , Middlesbrough and Newcastle .

future

Trafford Park Rail Corridors

The so far only on match days of Manchester United -operated open and exclusively by Northern Rail trains stop Manchester United FC Halt , who have direct access to the Old Trafford has to medium term aborted and a little of remote regional station White City and Trafford Center replaced which will be served by all Northern Rail traffic via Warrington to Liverpool. As part of the project, generally known as the Trafford Park Rail Corridor , the sidings to the Euroterminal freight yard are to be expanded and separated even more from passenger traffic, and the Manchester Metrolink is also to be extended through Trafford Park to the new Trafford Quays terminus .

electrification

Except for the Liverpool Lime Street – Liverpool South Parkway and Manchester Deansgate – Manchester Piccadilly sections, the line is not electrified. In the medium term, there are no plans to energize the southern route, as the project to electrify the route via Earlestown in 2009 will be electrified by 2013 at a cost of 100 million pounds.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/liverpool_central_hl/index.shtml
2. ↑ http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_central/index.shtml
3. ↑ http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1113361_manchester_central_marks_milestone
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/aroundtheweb/videos/northwestrailelectrification