Sandhills railway station

Sandhills railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. It was built by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway Company and now stands at the junction between the branch to Southport and the branch to Ormskirk and Kirkby.

Sandhills
Merseyrail Class 508 at Platform 1 in 2012
Location
PlaceKirkdale
Local authorityLiverpool
Coordinates53.4300°N 2.9917°W / 53.4300; -2.9917
Grid referenceSJ342930
Operations
Station codeSDL
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 1.324 million
2015/16 1.321 million
2016/17 1.323 million
2017/18 1.326 million
2018/19 1.088 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEMerseytravel
ZoneC1
History
1850Opened
2007Closed for Refurbishment
2008Reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Sandhills from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The two platforms form a single island, overlooking the River Mersey on one side, and the former industrial area of Commercial Road on the other. It is also used by football fans heading for Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. matches: a bus service called Soccerbus runs between the station and the football stadiums on match-days only.[1]

Previously passengers had to walk up a ramp to reach the ticket office, then through a subway and up ramps to reach the platform. Now the ramp remains, with alternate staircase. Leading to a lift directly into the Booking Office, accessing both sides of the island platforms.

History

Sandhills opened in 1850 as an intermediate station when the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was extended from its previous terminal at Waterloo to Liverpool Exchange. It became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855.[2] 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 privatised in 1995). The station had four wooden platforms until it was rationalised in 1973.

An extensive refurbishment plan for the station was suggested in 2006 which involved the building of a completely new booking hall and greatly improved facilities on the platform. A large canopy was constructed - originally intended to cover the entire length of the platform, but now eventually covering approximately half. In addition, a dedicated bus-rail interchange point was built, improving transport beyond the station to localities such as Kirkdale, Anfield and Everton. On 24 April 2007, improvement works to the station at a cost of £6 million were agreed. In November 2007, it was announced that the station would be closed from 17 November 2007 until March 2008 for refurbishment.[3] The refurbishment work was extended until July 2008, when the station reopened in a partly completed state. The full completion of the work at the station was finished in early 2009.

Facilities

The station is staffed 15 minutes before the first service and 15 minutes after the last service. There are toilets, platform CCTV and a booking office. There are departure and arrival screens on the platform for passenger information. Each of the two platforms has sheltered seating. The station does not have a car park, though there is a cycle rack with 10 spaces. The station is fully wheelchair accessible and access to the station is via lifts and ramps.[4]

Services

Off-peak service frequency is as follows:

During late evenings and on Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph on the Ormskirk and Kirkby lines. On Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph beyond Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross; also on winter Sundays (late September until the mid-May timetable change) they run every 30 minutes on the Liverpool Central to Southport section, giving a total 6 tph from all lines between Sandhills and Liverpool Central.

  • Sandhills station in 1979
  • The main entrance, viewed from platform 1.
  • Platform 1, with Alexandra Tower in the distance.
  • A Merseyrail Class 508 arrives with a service from Liverpool.
  • A Merseyrail Class 507 arrives with a service from Liverpool.

Land History

In the early nineteenth century, the estate of Sandhills was purchased by Liverpool solicitor and land speculator, John Leigh (1752-1823). As well as building a 'handsome house, where he had beautiful gardens, complete with hothouses and conservatories'. He also turned much of the pasture land to clay pits and brickworks needed to fuel the rapid growth of Liverpool - he reputedly lowered the ground level by seven or eight feet (well over two metres). His son, John Shaw Leigh (1791-1871) reaped the most benefit, selling plots piecemeal at huge profits to supply the land needed for the expanding docks and railways.[8]

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gollark: > I wonder if it would be possible to engineer a contagious bacteria with rapid reproductive rates to produce a fast acting psychoactive compound when undergoing cellular division, similar to how cholera produces cholera toxin. It would be an interesting non lethal bio weapon that could incapacitate enemy forces in a few hoursIt seems like it's getting cheaper and easier for people to genetically engineer bacteria and stuff, so I worry that within a few decades it will be easy enough that people will just do this sort of thing for funlolz.
gollark: I think I remember this being discussed before? Spirit complained about it.
gollark: Talking about where to get them might be, or at least might cause them to complain.
gollark: Based on advanced "ctrl+F" technology, there's nothing specifically about drugs or whatever (would be weird if there was) but just "no doing illegal things". *Talking* about drugs is not illegal.

References
  1. "Soccerbus". merseytravel.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  2. Awdry 1990, p. 88
  3. Merseytravel - Temporary Closure of Sandhills Station 17 November 2007 to March 2008. Accessed 5 November 2007 Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Sandhills train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  5. GB eNRT May 2017 Edition, Table 103
  6. GB eNRT May 2017 Edition, Table 105
  7. GB eNRT May 2017 Edition, Table 104
  8. "The Leigh Family of Liverpool". Liverpool Mercury. 11 January 1866. Col. 1. Retrieved 27 June 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bank Hall
towards Southport		   Merseyrail
Northern Line
Southport Branch		   Moorfields
towards Liverpool Central
or
Hunts Cross
Kirkdale
towards Ormskirk or Kirkby		   Merseyrail
Northern Line
Kirkby/Ormskirk Branch		  
Disused railways
Bank Hall
Line and station open		   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway		   Liverpool Exchange
Line and station closed
Kirkdale
Line and station open		   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway
Liverpool and Bury Railway		  
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