Ellesmere Port railway station

Ellesmere Port railway station is located in the town of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. It is the terminal station of two lines on separate rail networks. The station is one of the termini of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. The station is also the terminus of Northern Trains's Ellesmere Port to Warrington Bank Quay line. Departures and arrivals of Merseyrail services are on platform 1 with departures and arrivals for the Warrington Bank Quay Line on platform 2.

Ellesmere Port
A Merseyrail Class 507 at the station.
Location
PlaceEllesmere Port
Local authorityCheshire West and Chester
Coordinates53.2821°N 2.8962°W / 53.2821; -2.8962
Grid referenceSJ403764
Operations
Station codeELP
Managed byMerseyrail
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryE
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.403 million
2015/16 0.391 million
2016/17 0.363 million
2017/18 0.289 million
2018/19 0.426 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEMerseytravel
ZoneG1
History
1 July 1863opened as Whitby Locks
1 September 1870renamed Ellesmere Port
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ellesmere Port from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station is situated on the branch of the Birkenhead Railway from Hooton to Helsby which opened in 1863. The station itself opened on 1 July 1863, as Whitby Locks.[1] It was renamed Ellesmere Port on 1 September 1870.[1] The station building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

Ellesmere Port became part of the Merseyrail network in 1994, when the line from Hooton was electrified by British Rail and through train services to Liverpool's city centre via Birkenhead commenced.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, page 37, states that a trial of new Merseyrail battery trains will be undertaken in 2020, in view to extend the Wirral Line branch terminal to Helsby. If successful, Helsby will be one of the terminals of the Wirral line superseding Ellesmere Port.[3]

Facilities

The station is staffed from Monday to Friday, between 06:05 and 14:00, and is unstaffed otherwise. The station has platform CCTV, a 109-space car park and a cycle rack with 10 spaces and secure storage for 14 cycles.[4] Each platform has a waiting shelter. There are live electronic departure and arrival screens, on the platform, for passenger information. There is a payphone, next to the entrance, on platform 1. The station has vending machines, within the station concourse, next to the booking office.[5] Platform 1, for Merseyrail services, can be accessed by ramp, for passengers with wheelchairs or prams. Platform 2, for Northern services, can be accessed by a passage alongside the staircase on Whitby Road.[6] Cross-platform access, within the station, is by staircase only.

Outside of the ticket office opening hours passengers must purchase tickets from the Ticket Vending Machine located on the platform. This machine can issue tickets to any destination on the rail network. Passengers failing to purchase a ticket will be liable for a Penalty fare if they board a Merseyrail service without obtaining a valid ticket.

In 2014 the station office buildings were improved on Platform 1, to include a new and improved ticket office, a new toilet, a new café and retention of most of the building's classic features and works.

Services

Merseyrail Wirral Line services operate every 30 minutes each day (including Sunday) towards Birkenhead and Liverpool. Monday to Friday (except during the leaf-fall season in autumn), a few extra services run towards Liverpool in the morning and from Liverpool in the evening, giving a 15 minutes frequency in the peak direction only.[7] These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

As of May 2019, Northern operates a limited service (three trains per day each way, Mondays to Saturdays only) to Helsby via Stanlow & Thornton and Ince & Elton, two of which continue on weekdays to Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Victoria and one return working to Leeds via Todmorden. On Saturdays, all three trains terminate at Helsby.[8]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Overpool
towards Liverpool Central		   Merseyrail
Wirral Line
Ellesmere Port Branch		   Terminus
Terminus   Northern Trains
Ellesmere Port to Warrington Line
Mondays-Saturdays only		   Stanlow and Thornton
  • The footbridge and exterior of the station.
  • A Merseyrail Class 507 waits at the station.
  • The station building viewed from the drop-off point.
  • The view towards Stanlow.
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See also

References

Notes
  1. Butt (1995).
  2. Historic England. "Ellesmere Port Railway Station (1329997)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Ellesmere Port train station facilities, Merseyrail Accessed 2017-2-8
  5. Station Facilities for Ellesmere Port Accessed 2014-01-30
  6. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.2821127,-2.8969184,3a,60y,135.22h,67.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIwF6mCD4eqlnFfov513Iqw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
  7. Table 107 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  8. Table 109 National Rail timetable, May 2019

Sources

Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Chester to Birkenhead. Middleton Press. figs. 99-103. ISBN 9781908174215. OCLC 811323335.
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