Birchwood railway station

Birchwood
Location
Place	Birchwood
Local authority	Warrington
Coordinates	53°24′45″N 2°31′31″W / 53.4124°N 2.5253°W / 53.4124; -2.5253Coordinates: 53°24′45″N 2°31′31″W / 53.4124°N 2.5253°W / 53.4124; -2.5253
Grid reference	SJ651908
Operations
Station code	BWD
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12	0.555 million
2012/13	0.550 million
2013/14	0.583 million
2014/15	0.687 million
2015/16	0.670 million
History
Key dates	Opened July 1981 (July 1981)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Birchwood from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Birchwood station, 1995

Birchwood railway station is a railway station opened in 1981 by British Rail, serving the Birchwood district to the north east of Warrington, Cheshire, in the north west of England. The station is 13 ¹⁄₄ miles (21.3 km) west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchester-Liverpool Line.

The station is operated by Northern and is on the southern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Line. It is manned full-time (between 0610 and 2345 Mondays-Saturdays and 0825 and 2320 Sundays). It is across from the main Birchwood shopping complex and is well served by onward transportation to all parts of Birchwood and further afield.

Facilities

There is sheltered seating on both platforms with a ticket office with seating on the Manchester-bound platform. A footbridge connects the two platforms. Outside the station there is a bus stop and the station is close to the Birchwood shopping mall.

The ticket office is open until 22:00, though it does occasionally close during the day whilst staff carry out other duties. During the daytime there are three staff members on the station (station clerk, kiosk and a cleaner), and two of an evening (station clerk and a security guard). When the ticket office is closed there is a ticket machine in the station lobby.^[1] Train running information is provided by automated announcements, digital information screens and timetable posters. Step-free access is available via lifts on both platforms (commissioned in the autumn of 2014).^[2]

Services

The station sees a general frequency of three trains per hour per direction, provided by TPE and Northern:

• Two suburban trains per hour to Manchester Oxford Road via Irlam (Northern)
• Two suburban trains per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central (as above)
• One fast train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street stopping only at Warrington Central and Liverpool South Parkway en route (TPE)
• One fast train per hour to Leeds, York and Scarborough via Manchester Piccadilly (TPE) ^[3]

TPE services are due to cease in December 2017, as a result of the new Northern & TransPennine Express franchise agreements coming into effect in the spring of 2016. All services thereafter will then be provided by Arriva Rail North, operating as Northern (who will also take over the management of the station). The fast service will run to and from Manchester Airport rather than Scarborough (all TPE services from Liverpool will be diverted via Newton-le-Willows) and be marketed under Northern Connect brand.^[4]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birchwood railway station.

• Train times and station information for Birchwood railway station from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Warrington Central		TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Manchester Oxford Road
Padgate		Northern Liverpool-Manchester Line		Glazebrook
Warrington Central		East Midlands Trains Liverpool-Norwich Peak Hours only		Manchester Oxford Road