Sankey Bridges railway station

Sankey Bridges railway station was in southwestern Warrington, England. It was located immediately west of a swing bridge over the Sankey Canal.[2][3] The station site is to the south of Old Liverpool Road, Warrington.

St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway
Liverpool & Bury Railway Rainford Junction Skelmersdale branch Liverpool & Bury Railway Rainford Village Rookery Old Mill Lane Crank Halt Moss Bank Pilkington Gerards Bridge Liverpool–Wigan line to Wigan North Western St Helens Central (original GCR station) St Helens Central Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway Liverpool–Wigan line to Liverpool Lime Street Peasley Cross Hays Chemicals Sutton Oak Liverpool & Manchester Railway to Manchester Victoria Robins Lane Halt St Helens Junction Liverpool & Manchester Railway to Liverpool Lime Street Clock Face Union Bank Farm Halt Farnworth & Bold Appleton Ann Street Halt Warrington and Stockport Railway Vladivar Vodka distillery Warrington Arpley Chester–Warrington line to Chester Warrington Bank Quay High Level│Low Level West Coast Main Line Whitecross Sankey Bridges Fidlers Ferry & Penketh Fiddlers Ferry power station Cuerdley Widnes loop to Sankey Tanhouse Lane Widnes Central Cheshire Lines Committee (Liverpool–Manchester) Hough Green Widnes South Runcorn Gap (second) Runcorn Gap (first) swing bridge Widnes Dock Ditton Mill Weaver Junction–Liverpool line to Weaver Junction & Euston Runcorn Bridge Ditton Junction Halebank Speke 1864 extension to Liverpool Church Road Garston Garston Container terminal Garston Dock Garston and Liverpool Railway to Hunts Cross Hunts Cross chord Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Central Allerton West Allerton Mossley Hill Sefton Park Wavertree Liverpool & Manchester Railway Edge Hill Liverpool Lime Street

The station was built and operated by the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which was absorbed into the London and North Western Railway from 1 August 1864.[4] The line and station duly passed to the LMS at grouping and to London Midland Region of British Railways at nationalisation in 1948.

The 1922 timetable shows ten "Up" (towards Manchester) trains calling on "Weekdays" (Mondays to Saturdays.) Eight called at almost all stations between Liverpool Lime St and Manchester London Rd, as it then was, a journey of over 2 hours for the 37 miles via Warrington Bank Quay Low Level. Of the other two, one terminated at Warrington and the other at Altrincham.[5]

"Down" services were similar. No trains called on Sundays.

The station closed on 26 Sept 1949.[6][7]

The station was demolished step by step over the following years. By 2010 only the eastbound platform was in place, under long grass.[8]

The line through the station continued in normal passenger use until 10 September 1962 when the Liverpool Lime St to Warrington via Widnes South service was withdrawn, though a lone late night Liverpool to York Postal continued to use the route until 9 September 1963, when it was diverted via Earlestown to reduce operating costs.[9] Warrington Bank Quay Low Level remained open until 14 June 1965[10] but it is unclear what traffic this served along the route after the Postal was diverted.

In 2015 the tracks through the station site[11][12] remained heavily used, primarily by trains to and from Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, though a few other booked freights and occasional diversions used the line through to Ditton Junction.