Southport railway station

Southport railway station serves the town of Southport, Merseyside, England. The station is the terminal of the Southport branch of the Northern Line of the electric Merseyrail network, and the diesel-operated Manchester-Southport Line. It is the fourth busiest station on the Merseyrail network. The station and services to Liverpool and Hunts Cross are operated by Merseyrail, with Manchester services operated by Northern Trains.

This article is about the current railway station in Southport, England. For the American railroad station, see Southport (Metro-North station). For the closed railway station in Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, see Southport Lord Street railway station.

Southport
Location
PlaceSouthport
Local authoritySefton
Coordinates53.647°N 3.002°W / 53.647; -3.002
Grid referenceSD338171
Operations
Station codeSOP
Managed byMerseyrail
Number of platforms6
DfT categoryD
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 4.129 million
2015/16 4.147 million
– Interchange  33,385
2016/17 4.240 million
– Interchange  59,957
2017/18 4.140 million
– Interchange  79,470
2018/19 4.272 million
– Interchange  65,271
Passenger Transport Executive
PTEMerseytravel
ZoneD1
History
22 August 1851Opened (as Southport Chapel Street)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Southport from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The Liverpool line was originally built in 1848 by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway to a temporary station at Eastbank Street, about half a mile short of the current terminus. The current station opened as Southport Chapel Street on 22 August 1851, and became the terminus for all trains in 1857, when passenger services were transferred from the adjacent Southport London Street.[1]

From 1882 the West Lancashire Railway to Preston Fishergate Hill operated from Southport Derby Road (later known as Southport Central) outside Chapel Street Station.

In 1884, another line from Southport to Liverpool was opened: the Cheshire Lines Committee's (CLC) North Liverpool Extension Line from Liverpool Central to Southport Lord Street. The West Lancashire Railway sponsored the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway to provide a connection to the CLC line, joining it at Altcar and Hillhouse. These lines ultimately proved uncompetitive, however, and the Southport services were withdrawn in January 1952.[2]

In July 1897, both the West Lancashire and the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railways were absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y). The L&Y had a large terminus at Southport Chapel Street and could see no sense in operating two termini at very close proximity. On 1 May 1901 the L&Y completed a remodelling of the approach lines to Southport Central to allow trains to divert onto the Manchester to Southport line and into Southport Chapel Street Station. Southport Central was closed to passengers and it became a goods depot eventually amalgamating with Chapel Street depot.[3] It survived intact well into the 1970s. In 1904, the line from Liverpool was electrified by the L&YR, which also extended the third rail out as far as Crossens on the WLR line to Preston that year and out to Meols Cop in 1909.

The Preston line was closed to passengers on 7 September 1964,[4] although a small section to Hesketh Park station was used for freight until 1967. This line had its electric local services to Crossens and its through steam services withdrawn on consecutive days immediately before the official closure date - the only such route to suffer that fate during the Beeching-era closures. Nowadays, the towns of Southport and Preston are linked only by the (largely dual-carriageway) A565 and A59 roads.

At its largest, Chapel Street station had eleven regular platforms and two excursion platforms. Now six truncated platforms are in use (platforms 1-3 for Liverpool trains & 4-6 for Manchester), the rest having been demolished and the land used for car parking. In 1970 the former terminal building was replaced with a shopping centre. Platform 7 was originally going to be saved and used as an excursion platform for when mainline specials were to visit the resort but this failed and it too was demolished along with platforms 8, 9 & 10.

Remains of the signal box, carriage & wagon works & sub station are still visible today.

The sidings next to the former South Curve still remain today but are not much used except for if a unit or engine needs turning.

A new M to Go shop opened in 2007, incorporating a ticket office, and the station itself underwent a £3.5 million renovation project which included a renewed roof, new lighting, glazed screens, floor tiles and toilets plus a retail unit.[5]

Facilities
Two Merseyrail Class 507 units stand in Platforms 2 and 3.
A Northern Rail-liveried Class 156 stands in Platform 5.
LMS 8F 2-8-0 no 48151 at Southport's Chapel Street station after working "The Roses Express" on Wed 4th April 2012.

The main entrance to this staffed station is located on the pedestrianised Chapel Street, one of Southport's main shopping areas. The car park immediately next to the station is reserved for taxis and staff only, but a large pay car park further along London Street is available for general public use.[6]

The station is staffed 15 minutes before the first service and 15 minutes after the last service. There are toilets, platform CCTV and a Mtogo shop & booking office. There are departure and arrival screens on the platform for passenger information There are cycle racks for 16 cycles and secure storage for 80 cycles.[7]

Services

Merseyrail

Monday to Saturday, trains depart every 15 minutes to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central.[8]

Fewer trains operate on Sundays, with the frequency reduced to one service every 30 minutes, except during the summer, when the service is four trains per hour, two of these services terminate at Liverpool Central, with the remaining two continuing to Hunts Cross.

Merseyrail services can utilise only the electrified platforms. These are Platforms 1, 2 and 3. Platforms 2 and 3 are used more frequently than Platform 1.

Northern Trains

The Monday to Saturday service pattern underwent a major revamp at the May 2018 timetable change, with the loss of all direct trains to Bolton and Manchester Piccadilly, except for two a.m peak trains to Alderley Edge. The basic pattern was 2tph to Manchester Victoria via Wigan Wallgate and Atherton, which then continue to Rochdale and then alternately to Blackburn via the East Lancashire Line or Leeds via Brighouse. Travellers for destinations on the south side of Manchester (such as Manchester Airport or Stockport) had to change at Hindley or Salford Crescent. On Sundays there is an hourly service to Blackburn via Wigan and Manchester Victoria.[9]

From the winter 2019 timetable change the timetable has been revamped again on weekdays and Saturdays, with all trains running via Bolton off-peak and serving both main Manchester terminals. One runs to Alderley Edge via Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport, whilst the other runs to Manchester Victoria and onward to Stalybridge. Direct service to stations on the Atherton line will only operate in the weekday peaks and passengers wishing to travel towards Rochdale and further east will need to change at Wigan Wallgate.[10] The Sunday service pattern remains unchanged.

Northern Trains services normally depart from platforms 4, 5 or 6, although services can also use platform 3 if required.

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References
  1. Gell, Rob (1986). An Illustrated Survey of Railway Stations Between Southport & Liverpool 1848-1986. Heyday Publishing Company, ISBN 0-947562-04-4.
  2. Marshall, J (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p 80
  3. Disused Stations - Southport CentralDisused Stations; Retrieved 2013-11-18
  4. Marshall, J (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p.152
  5. "Station transformation well under way", Network Rail, 6 November 2007. Retrieved on 8 May 2008.
  6. Station facilities at Southport station, National Rail. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  7. "Southport train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  8. Table 103 National Rail timetable, May 2018
  9. Table 82 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  10. Northern Timetable 14 - Manchester to Southport and Kirkby 15 December 2019 - 16 May 2020 Northern; Retrieved 29 November 2019
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Terminus   Merseyrail
Northern Line		   Birkdale
towards Hunts Cross
Terminus   Northern
Manchester-Southport Line		   Meols Cop
towards Wigan Wallgate
  Historical railways  
Terminus   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Manchester and Southport Railway		   St Luke's
Line open, station closed
  Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
West Lancashire Railway		  
  Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Liverpool, Southport and
Preston Junction Railway		  
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