Birkdale railway station

Birkdale National Rail
Location
Place Birkdale
Local authority Sefton
Coordinates 53°38′02″N 3°00′52″W / 53.6340°N 3.0145°W / 53.6340; -3.0145Coordinates: 53°38′02″N 3°00′52″W / 53.6340°N 3.0145°W / 53.6340; -3.0145
Grid reference SD330157
Operations
Station code BDL
Managed by Merseyrail
Number of platforms 2
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Decrease 0.702 million
2013/14 Increase 0.915 million
2014/15 Increase 0.955 million
2015/16 Increase 0.999 million
2016/17 Increase 1.035 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE Merseytravel
Zone D1
History
31 July 1848 Opened 56 chains (1.1 km) nearer Liverpool
1851 Replaced on present site as "Birkdale Park"[1]
Before 1910 Renamed "Birkdale"[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Birkdale from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Birkdale railway station serves the Birkdale suburb of Southport, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line.

History

The first Birkdale station opened on the then new, single track Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. This station was located at "Old Gilbert's", over half a mile nearer Liverpool than the present station.[3] The line was subsequently developed rapidly, being doubled and completed through to Liverpool. In 1851 this station was replaced by a wholly new, two platform station called "Birkdale Park" which formed the basis of the present day station. By 1910 it had been renamed plain "Birkdale". Both the later station and the original station building at what had evolved to be mapped as "Gilbert's Crossing" can be seen on the Edwardian OS 6" map.[4] The old station building was not demolished until 1965.[5] By 2012 Gilbert's Crossing was completely obliterated by housing. It was just south of the junction of Dunkirk and Dover roads.

The line became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855.[6] who took over from the (LCSR). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948 and in 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatisation in 1995).

The signal box adjacent to the station, built in 1905, is a Grade II listed building.[7] Birkdale is the only station on the line that still has a signal box.

Facilities

The station is staffed, during all opening hours, and has platform CCTV. There is a booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. There is car parking for 90 cars, secure cycle storage for 24 cycles and cycle racks for a further 26 cycles. A subway links both platforms but both platforms can be accessed without steps via the level crossing.[8]

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday and on summer Sundays to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Winter Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.

References

  1. ↑ Harrop 1985, pp. 136 & 144.
  2. ↑ Bradshaw 1968, p. 756.
  3. ↑ The first Birkdale station on an 1847 OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
  4. ↑ Birkdale's first two stations on an OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
  5. ↑ Harrop 1985, p. 145.
  6. ↑ Awdry 1990, p. 88.
  7. ↑ Historic England, "Birkdale Signal Box (1412052)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 January 2016
  8. ↑ "Birkdale train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.

Sources

  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
  • Bradshaw, George (1968) [1910]. Bradshaw's Railway Guide: April 1910. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4246-0.
  • Harrop, Sylvia (1985). Old Birkdale and Ainsdale: Life on the South West Lancashire coast 1600-1851. Birkdale, Southport: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 0-9510905-0-X.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Southport
terminus		   Merseyrail
Northern Line		   Hillside
towards Hunts Cross
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