Wirral Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wirral Railway (WR) was incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway (HR), with powers to build lines from Birkenhead to New Brighton, and to Parkgate on the western side of the Wirral Peninsula; the latter line was not built. Between 1872 and 1882 the HR was renamed twice, and extensions of the line from Hoylake to West Kirby and to Seacombe in Wallasey were authorised. The line was incorporated as the Wirral Railway in 1882.

The lines ran from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby, with branches to New Brighton and Seacombe. The Railway's services were mainly passenger, as they were suburban lines that also carried daytrippers to seaside resorts. Birkenhead Park station had a cross-platform connection with the Mersey Railway's electric trains under the River Mersey. All the stations on the line were very close together, in order to serve the population of the north Wirral. The total length of line was thirteen and a half miles.

The Wirral Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the Railways Act 1921 Grouping.

In 1938 parts of what had been the Wirral Railway were electrified, with electric trains running to both New Brighton and West Kirby. The trains operated through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool, and now form part of Merseyrail's Wirral Line. The branch to Seacombe (which was never electrified) later closed, and its route was used for the approach road to the Kingsway Tunnel, which opened in 1971.