Green Lane railway station

Green Lane railway station is in the town of Birkenhead, Wirral, England, located in the district of Tranmere. The station is situated on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network. The station is located in a below ground level cutting accessed via tunnels at each end of the station. As initially the station accommodated steam trains it is partially open to the atmosphere above to aid ventilation.

Green Lane
Location
Place	Tranmere
Local authority	Wirral
Coordinates	53.383°N 3.016°W / 53.383; -3.016
Grid reference	SJ325878
Operations
Station code	GNL
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*
2014/15	0.445 million
2015/16	0.405 million
2016/17	0.371 million
2017/18	0.372 million
2018/19	0.490 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	B1
History
1886 1903	Opened Electrified
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Green Lane from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was opened in 1886 as the terminus of the Mersey Railway's line from Liverpool via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. In 1891 the line was extended southwards to Rock Ferry, and was subsequently electrified in 1903. The line was integrated into the Merseyrail network in the 1970s. Merseyrail extensions in the 1980s and 1990s allowed train services to be extended beyond Rock Ferry; first to Hooton in 1985, then to Chester in 1993 and finally Ellesmere Port in 1994.

In early June 2014 it was announced that this station would be among a small number of stations on the Merseyrail network that will be spruced up as part of a £3.7m programme of improvements. In May 2015, the ticket office closed for refurbishment works to take place, which reopened in June 2015. On 15 June, work started on the platform areas. 6 car trains did not stop at the station between 15 June and 20 July whilst some of these works took place.[1] The old waiting shelters were replaced with new ones and a cover was placed over the majority of the Liverpool bound platform. New lighting and information boards have also been introduced throughout the station, as well as new artwork on the Chester and Ellesmere Port Platform.

Facilities

The station is staffed, 15 minutes before the first train and 15 minutes after the last train, and has platform CCTV. There is a payphone, booking office and live departure and arrival screens on the platform, for passenger information. The station has a free car park with 60 spaces, as well as secure cycle locker with 18 spaces. There is no access to the platforms for passengers with wheelchairs or prams, as platform access involves two staircases.[2]

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes between Chester and Liverpool on weekdays and Saturdays until late evening when the service becomes half-hourly, as it is on Sundays. Additionally there is a half-hourly service between Liverpool and Ellesmere Port all day, every day.[3] Northbound trains operate via Hamilton Square station in Birkenhead and the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool. Southbound trains all proceed as far as Hooton, where the lines to Chester and Ellesmere Port divide. These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

Gallery

• 
  The station building.
• 
  A Merseyrail Class 507 at Green Lane.
• 
  The footbridge.
• 
  An overall view of the station, from the top of the footbridge.

See also

• List of underground stations of the Merseyrail network

References

1. "Green Lane Refurbishment". Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
2. "Green-lane train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
3. "Wirral Line timetable" (PDF). Merseyrail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Chester to Birkenhead. Middleton Press. fig. 72. ISBN 9781908174215. OCLC 811323335.

External links

• Train times and station information for Green Lane railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Green Lane railway station from Merseyrail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Rock Ferry towards Chester or Ellesmere Port		Merseyrail Wirral Line Ellesmere Port/Chester		Birkenhead Central towards Liverpool Central