Edge Hill railway station

Edge Hill National Rail
Location
Place Edge Hill
Local authority Liverpool
Grid reference SJ371899
Operations
Station code EDG
Managed by Northern Rail
Number of platforms 4
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  22,948
2005/06 Increase 34,097
2006/07 Increase 35,086
2007/08 Decrease 34,392
2008/09 Increase 95,842
2009/10 Increase 102,600
2010/11 Increase 123,044
2011/12 Increase 142,102
2012/13 Increase 142,750
2013/14 Increase 163,850
2014/15 Decrease 157,568
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE Merseytravel
Zone C1
History
1836 Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Edge Hill from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Edge Hill railway station serves the district of Edge Hill in Liverpool, England.

There have been two stations of that name. The first stood a short distance south-west of the present station and its remains are still visible, although the site is not open to the public.

Edge Hill is the first station after departure from Liverpool Lime Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern Rail.

East Midlands Trains, London Midland, First TransPennine Express and Virgin Trains services pass through the station, but do not stop.

There is no Sunday service at Edge Hill.

The first station

Bury's watercolour of the tunnel portals

The first station opened on 15 September 1830 as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.[1] It was located in a deep sandstone cutting, with three tunnels at the west end. The largest bore, in the centre, was the 2,250-yard Wapping Tunnel, a long incline leading to Wapping Dock and the world's first tunnel to be bored under a metropolis.[1] The goods wagons descended by gravity, but were hauled up by a winding engine. When first opened, it was whitewashed, lit by gas, and used as a promenade by visitors.

The tunnel to the north of the central bore was much shorter and inclined upwards, leading to the passenger terminal at Crown Street. Here the trains descended by gravity to Edge Hill station and were wound up into Crown Street. The southern tunnel was originally a short length leading nowhere and used as a storage shed: its chief purpose was to create a symmetrical appearance. It was later extended so that it could enter the goods yard created after the abandonment of the Crown Street station.

The Moorish Arch

At the opposite end of the station area were the boilers of a stationary steam engine. These were used for the rope-winding mechanism. Each formed the base of a fine Moorish Arch. The smoke was channelled down rock cut flues to tall chimneys – known as the 'Pillars of Hercules' – on either side of the tunnel facing.

There were engine sheds and workshops cut into the rock either side of the station area, entered by transverse tracks accessed by turnplates.

The station area was rarely used for passengers, being so close to Crown Street station, but was used for the marshalling of trains and the coupling and uncoupling of locomotives.

The new station

The decision to divert passenger traffic by means of a new tunnel to Lime Street Station from Edge Hill resulted in the construction of a new station further north at Edge Hill at the tunnel portal. Both Crown Street and the old Edge Hill station then became goods stations. Crown Street was used as a coal and agricultural goods terminal. The new Edge Hill station was opened in 1836 and has been in continuous use ever since.[1] Trains descended to Lime Street by gravity, being rope-hauled by a winding engine back up to Edge Hill. However, this practice soon became redundant.

Layout

Facing west there are two tunnels visible from the platforms. The northernmost tunnel is the Waterloo Tunnel, and the southern tunnel leads to Liverpool Lime Street. The station consists of two island platforms, each with an original building dating from 1836. This makes it the world's oldest passenger railway station still in use,[1] although the former Liverpool Road station in Manchester is the oldest surviving station building. Though the station is staffed, it is somewhat lacking in passenger facilities such as shelter and seating. Art exhibitions are held on the approach road to the Southern island platform. An arts centre called Metal now occupies part of the building on the Manchester-bound platform.

Around 400 yards[2] from the station in the Manchester direction is a key junction, where the Merseyrail City lines separate into two: one goes towards Mossley Hill (serving the southern Liverpool-Manchester line and the West Coast Main Line) and the other towards Wavertree Tech Park (serving the Wigan and Manchester Victoria lines). There is also a non-passenger line towards Bootle Oriel Road.[3]

Services

Edge Hill lies on both the middle and southern routes of the Liverpool to Manchester Line from Liverpool Lime Street. There is a half-hourly service on the northern branch, with alternate trains to Manchester Victoria and Warrington Bank Quay. There is also an hourly service on the southern branch to Manchester Oxford Road via Warrington Central, and a half-hourly service to Wigan North Western via St Helens Central.

Summary:

calling at: Mossley Hill, West Allerton, Liverpool South Parkway, Hunts Cross, Halewood, Hough Green, Widnes, Sankey for Penketh, Warrington Central, Padgate, Birchwood, Glazebrook, Irlam, Flixton, Chassen Road, Urmston, Humphrey Park, Trafford Park, Deansgate (G-Mex) and Manchester Oxford Road
calling at Wavertree Tech Park, Broad Green, Roby, Huyton, Whiston, Rainhill, Lea Green, St Helens Junction, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, Patricroft, Eccles and Manchester Victoria
calling at: Wavertree Tech Park, Broad Green, Roby, Huyton, Whiston, Rainhill, Lea Green, St Helens Junction, Earlestown, and Warrington Bank Quay
calling at: Wavertree Tech Park, Broad Green, Roby, Huyton, Prescot, Eccleston Park, Thatto Heath, St Helens Central, Garswood, Bryn, and Wigan North Western
calling at Liverpool Lime Street only

Gallery

Points of interest

Edge Hill is a haven for rail enthusiasts. There is a large freight yard operated by EWS, which mostly sees Class 60 locomotives, as a change from that company's more ubiquitous Class 66s. The yards are also home to a number of track maintenance units, some of which have not been moved for two decades.

In 2009 arts organisation Metal completed a major renovation of the Engine House, Boiler Room and Accumulator Tower at Edge Hill Station, after successfully raising capital funding from Kensington Regeneration, Merseytravel, Northern Rail, Railway Heritage Trust and Network Rail. This included works by Al and Al, entitled XXX: Get Off At Edge Hill.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Promoting Edge Hill". Modern Railways (747) (London). December 2010. p. 35.
  2. ↑ Seen on signs at LE junction.
  3. ↑ Taken from reading a Multimap map.
  4. ↑ http://www.metalculture.com/archive/al-and-al.html

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edge Hill railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Liverpool Lime Street   Northern Rail
Liverpool to Manchester Line (south)		   Mossley Hill
Liverpool Lime Street   Northern Electrics
Liverpool to Manchester Line (north)		   Wavertree Technology Park
Liverpool Lime Street   Northern Electrics
Liverpool to Wigan Line		   Wavertree Technology Park
Disused railways
Edge Lane
Line and station closed		   London and North Western Railway
Canada Dock Branch		   Liverpool Lime Street
Line and station open
Liverpool Riverside
Line and station closed		   London and North Western Railway
Waterloo Tunnel		   Broad Green
Line and station open
Crown Street
Line and station closed		   Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Wapping Branch		  

Coordinates: 53°24′09″N 2°56′47″W / 53.40250°N 2.94639°W / 53.40250; -2.94639

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.