Liverpool and Bury Railway

Liverpool and Bury Railway
LOPR and LBR diverge.
Overview
System National Rail
Status Operational
Locale Lancashire
North West England
Operation
Owner Network Rail
Operator(s) Northern
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in
(1,435 mm)
standard gauge

Liverpool and Bury Railway
East Lancashire Railway
Bury Interchange
Manchester Metrolink
 Bury (Knowsley Street)
Bury (Bolton Street)
Manchester, Bury and
Rossendale Railway
East Lancashire Railway
 
Radcliffe Black Lane
 Bradley Fold
 Darcy Lever
Manchester and
Bolton Railway
Bolton Trinity Street
Ribble Valley line
Lostock Junction
Bolton & Preston Rly
Chew Moor
 Westhoughton
Manchester and
Southport Railway
 Hindley
Lancashire Union Railway
Whelley Loop
Ince
Wigan
North Union Railway
Liverpool–Wigan line
Gathurst
Pemberton
Manchester and
Southport Railway
Orrell
 Upholland
 Rainford Junction
Skelmersdale branch
St Helens Railway
 Kirkby
 Fazakerley
 Preston Road
Liverpool, Ormskirk
and Preston Railway
Kirkdale
Liverpool, Crosby and
Southport Railway
Sandhills
to Moorfields, Liverpool
Central and Hunts Cross
Liverpool Exchange

The Liverpool and Bury Railway was formed in 1845 and opened on 28 November 1848.[1] The line ran from Liverpool Exchange first using a joint line with Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway before branching off to proceed via Kirkby then Wigan and Bolton to Bury.

Mergers

In 1846 the line merged with the Manchester & Leeds Railway being eventually finished after the merger to form the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR).[1] The portion of the line west of Crow Nest Junction eventually formed part of the LYR's 37-mile (59.5 km) Liverpool to Manchester route via a junction with the Manchester and Southport Railway at Wigan. From 1858 the line was connected to the Skelmersdale Branch and the St. Helens Railway at Rainford Junction. A short tunnel was bored through a hill between Upholland station and Orrell station.

The line today

With the exception of the section from Bolton to Bury (closed on 5 October 1970, along with the continuation through to Castleton) the line is still in use, though Liverpool Exchange station closed in 1977 being replaced by Liverpool Moorfields in Merseyrail's Link Tunnel.[2] In 1946 one of the Victorian timber bridges on the line was replaced with the Adam Viaduct, the first prestressed concrete railway bridge in the United Kingdom.[3]

The line from Liverpool city centre to Kirkby is electrified with a DC third rail forming a part of Merseyrail's Northern Line. At present, services from Kirkby onwards are operated by diesel trains though there are plans for the Merseyrail electrified line to be extended towards Wigan with a new terminus at Headbolt Lane. Long-term aspirations are to extend Merseyrail to Wigan on this line. The Wigan to Bolton section meanwhile is used by Manchester Airport to Southport and Wigan Wallgate to Manchester Victoria local services.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Liverpool and Bury Railway". Grace's Guides to British Industrial History. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Liverpool Exchange Station: We look back on this famous terminus 165 years after it opened". Liverpool Echo.
  3. ↑ "Adam Viaduct". Historic England. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Working Timetable Section CL" (PDF). Network Rail. 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2018.


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