Northern line (Merseyrail)

The Northern line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England,[5] the other being the Wirral line. The cross-city route runs from Hunts Cross in south Liverpool then (by way of an underground section through Liverpool's city centre) branches in the north to terminate at Southport, Kirkby (both Merseyside) and Ormskirk (Lancashire).

For other uses, see Northern line (disambiguation).

Northern line
A yellow "M" over a grey circle.The words "Northern Line" in white over a green background.
A Northern line Class 507 at Liverpool Central
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleLiverpool
North West England
Termini
Stations36
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)Merseyrail[1]
Depot(s)Kirkdale TMD
Rolling stockClass 777 (from January 2023),
Class 507, Class 508
Technical
Number of tracksTwo
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification750 V DC third rail[2]
Operating speed60 mph (97 km/h) maximum[3][4]
Route map

(Click to expand)

Passenger interchange to the Wirral line is available at Moorfields and Liverpool Central, and to the separately-owned City Line at Hunts Cross and Liverpool South Parkway. Liverpool South Parkway also allows interchange with regional and long-distance services, while connections to services operated by Northern Trains are possible at Kirkby, Ormskirk and Southport.

Description

The line runs from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool towards Liverpool Central. Brunswick station between St Michaels and Liverpool Central was added in 1998 to provide a connection to the Brunswick Business Park. In the tunnel just south of Liverpool Central, the line drops into a 1970s tunnel to a lower level into the underground Mersey Railway Liverpool Central (Low Level) station. North of Central the line uses the Mersey Railway tunnel for about half of the route to Moorfields, an underground station built in the 1970s to replace the surface-level Liverpool Exchange. North of Moorfields, the route emerges from the tunnel to join the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway lines from the former Exchange station.

After Sandhills, the former Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway branches off towards Southport, while the other routes continue to Kirkdale on what was a joint section of track between Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway and the Liverpool and Bury Railway. After Kirkdale, the Ormskirk and Kirkby lines diverge.

Generally, trains from Hunts Cross continue to Southport, while trains to Ormskirk and Kirkby start at Liverpool Central. Daytime trains operate every 15 minutes on each of the three routes Monday to Saturday daytime and every 30 minutes evenings and Sundays. Until 2017, summer Sunday frequencies on the Southport route were increased to every 15 minutes. There are no peak hour frequency increases but trains on the Southport and Ormskirk routes are increased to six carriages, as are weekend services during the summer on the Southport route.[6]

Special timetables are implemented for major events such as the Grand National meeting at Aintree and golf tournaments at Birkdale. These involve changing services on all branches and the closure of stations in anticipation of overcrowding risks.[7]

Passenger volume

Passengers from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2010.

Station usage
Station name 2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020-21 2021-22
Southport branch
Southport 1,080,767 1,549,576 1,582,115 1,669,056 1,681,444 3,094,576 2,949,656 2,886,448 3,094,396
Birkdale 164,753 251,641 256,424 270,277 289,106 820,240 783,066 770,104 851,710
Hillside 125,031 158,618 178,252 177,678 180,744 688,812 579,460 590,254 474,834
Ainsdale 210,317 289,260 322,911 328,423 345,791 998,438 955,328 972,616 768,028
Freshfield 169,370 249,567 266,415 277,933 283,772 827,718 798,444 795,312 484,074
Formby 279,822 424,875 482,312 525,841 553,546 1,668,128 1,576,974 1,595,890 995,964
Hightown 84,188 117,664 133,241 141,686 150,991 439,588 409,956 416,844 248,152
Hall Road 50,377 69,251 76,158 88,355 91,686 288,584 270,198 269,744 312,314
Blundellsands and Crosby 296,685 457,346 518,823 561,676 599,071 1,839,920 1,717,962 1,735,882 1,196,618
Waterloo (Merseyside) 433,285 601,447 660,922 669,416 720,522 1,136,872 1,022,416 1,014,942 1,237,784
Seaforth and Litherland 176,145 300,292 335,884 337,209 362,341 832,894 766,468 789,156 715,640
Bootle New Strand 345,451 415,685 404,558 348,458 405,802 977,696 909,922 931,806 789,718
Bootle Oriel Road 57,791 155,295 203,956 249,030 209,041 523,944 511,614 521,576 503,766
Bank Hall 51,477 71,052 74,624 62,692 85,014 197,086 171,010 172,426 184,840
Ormskirk branch
Ormskirk 726,015 693,376 716,362 733,381 770,621 1,026,546 998,858 878,782 1,664,370
Aughton Park 95,060 86,413 83,012 89,200 85,699 124,736 109,592 96,224 112,192
Town Green 188,160 183,233 203,324 202,425 206,180 259,972 239,100 193,200 290,144
Maghull 394,191 431,945 502,020 610,318 696,791 2,144,046 1,999,436 1,956,936 1,106,204
Old Roan 177,332 260,871 284,901 305,589 337,166 918,262 861,176 863,568 787,518
Aintree 284,514 388,230 376,908 412,132 473,143 1,251,404 1,173,276 1,197,258 725,908
Orrell Park 369,037 452,889 473,979 469,256 491,948 1,257,746 1,170,676 1,192,140 813,262
Walton (Merseyside) 65,155 93,261 110,471 113,214 113,131 179,148 162,612 164,478 334,012
Kirkdale 299,396 410,808 452,155 441,525 479,342 1,179,346 1,085,418 1,099,018 850,892
Kirkby branch
Kirkby 350,098 516,007 560,285 639,337 739,590 2,191,476 2,050,590 2,006,486 1,899,772
Fazakerley 215,019 300,552 329,306 318,664 330,843 889,816 832,474 864,108 920,166
Rice Lane 64,677 102,525 116,590 118,113 133,723 330,818 307,116 323,310 416,686
Kirkdale See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above
Bank Hall\Kirkdale to Hunts Cross
Sandhills 178,991 272,009 314,309 306,134 207,944 390,346 446,210 495,458 815,288
Moorfields 339,533 309,014 383,815 1,577,540 2,141,398 5,141,655 4,445,984 4,637,356 4,807,882
Liverpool Central 1,086,536 982,498 1,293,790 7,169,618 8,856,570 19,635,814 18,413,982 17,958,028 10,747,030
Brunswick 224,476 352,854 407,134 410,813 442,711 1,061,698 979,312 963,252 696,788
St Michaels 195,408 289,183 365,547 360,976 378,944 562,860 506,288 469,570 785,816
Aigburth 146,283 179,458 241,063 246,583 265,442 761,362 696,992 681,774 483,488
Cressington 74,789 120,034 152,383 164,734 170,409 456,042 424,174 421,076 432,612
Garston (Merseyside) 141,022 190,778 222,247 42,886 Closed Closed Closed Closed
Liverpool South Parkway - - - 288,845 419,681 568,822 581,898 641,662 1,460,056
Hunts Cross 277,961 326,258 443,837 464,367 503,426 1,269,710 1,190,934 1,172,150 1,155,580
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail and Road estimates of station usage. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve-month periods that start in April. Methodology may vary year on year. Usage from the periods 2019-20 and especially 2020-21 onwards have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic

Service pattern

There are a total of 12 trains per hour (tph) running on the central section between Sandhills and Liverpool Central. The service pattern is:[8] (Not all stops listed; trains call at every station on their route.)

Northern Line
Route tph
Mon.–Sat. Sun.
Southport–Formby–Sandhills–Liverpool Central–Liverpool South Parkway–Hunts Cross42
Ormskirk–Sandhills–Liverpool Central42
Headbolt Lane–Sandhills–Liverpool Central42

History
1909 map showing former lines

The Northern Line was introduced in 1977.

In 2006, Garston station was replaced by Liverpool South Parkway station.

Electrification

The line is electrified using 750 V DC third rail, identical to the third rail system present in southern England.

  • Liverpool Exchange to Southport, Crossens and Meols Cop was the first section to be electrified, in 1904.
  • The branch to Aintree, on the Ormskirk branch, followed in 1906, extended to Ormskirk in 1913.
  • The Kirkby branch and the line south to Garston were electrified to create a north–south line through the Link Tunnel in 1978.
  • Electrification was cut back to Southport in the north in 1964 as part of the Southport-Preston line closure, stations closing which previously had had electric services were St Lukes, Hesketh Park, Churchtown, and Crossens, electric services also ceased to Meols Cop station although the conductor rail remained until 1970 to serve the large depot at Meols Cop, and this station continues to serve trains on the Southport to Wigan/Manchester line.[9]
  • Garston to Hunts Cross was electrified in 1983.

Connections
Merseyrail service map, with the Northern line in blue

Interchange with the Wirral line is available at Liverpool Central and Moorfields. As the Northern line does not pass through Liverpool Lime Street, passengers from other rail networks must use the Wirral line as a connection. As there is only a direct escalator down to the Wirral line towards Birkenhead at Liverpool Central and given the short distance between Central and Lime Street most passengers prefer to walk rather than use the several escalators necessary to travel between the two stations.

Liverpool city centre stations have lifts for wheelchairs buggies and heavy luggage but they are small.

Interchange with other National Rail services can be made at Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby, Liverpool South Parkway and Hunts Cross.

Liverpool South Parkway opened on 11 June 2006, replacing Garston and providing connections to the City Line formerly available at Allerton.

Future

Plans to re-open St James station have been proposed. Merseytravel agreed to work with Liverpool Vision in March 2014 to investigate the cost of re-opening the station and its projected usage.[10] Merseytravel listed the re-opening of St James station as a 'top rail project' on a Rail Development and Delivery Committee report in 2016.[11]

As part of Lancashire County Council's plans to build a new railway station in Skelmersdale, they have proposed an extension to the Northern Line that would change the terminus of the Kirkby branch of the line from Kirkby to Skelmersdale. The proposals could see a new station built at Headbolt Lane and Merseyrail services also passing through Rainford railway station. By September 2017, Merseytravel and Lancashire County Council had committed £5 million of funding to the scheme. Merseytravel believe the scheme could cost around £300 million to develop and could be ready in a decade.[12]

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, page 37, states a review in 2020 to introduce new Merseyrail battery trains will be undertaken, in view to put Preston onto the Merseyrail network by extending the Merseyrail Northern Line from Ormskirk to Preston. The aim is to have Preston one of the terminals of the Northern Line. The document states, "The potential use of battery powered Merseyrail units may improve the business case".[13]

See also

References
  1. "Merseyrail - About Merseyrail". Merseyrail. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. "04 - Current Capability" (PDF). Network Rail. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. "Merseyside Route Utilisation Strategy" (PDF). Network Rail. 25 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  4. "Network Capability – Baseline Declaration : (1) Line-speeds : (2) London North Western Route (North)" (PDF). Network Rail. 31 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  5. Merseyrail - A brief History (PDF), merseytravel.gov.uk, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2006, retrieved 4 January 2009
  6. "6 and 4 Car Service Information". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  7. Thorp, Liam (18 March 2019). "Merseyrail releases timetables for Grand National Festival weekend". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  8. "Merseyrail Northern Line Timetable" (PDF). merseyrail.org. 22 July 2021.
  9. "Disused Stations: Meols Cop Triangle & Electric Car Sheds".
  10. Thomas, JoeJoe (21 January 2015). "Merseytravel plan St James station re-opening study in next financial year". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  11. "Merseytravel Committee Rail Development and Delivery" (PDF). Merseytravel. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  12. Houghton, Alistair (18 September 2017). "Skelmersdale rail link moves step closer as £5m funding revealed". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

53.4045°N 2.9798°W / 53.4045; -2.9798

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