Northern line (Merseyrail)

Northern line
A yellow M over a grey circle.The words Northern Line in white over a green background.
A Northern line battery Class 777 unit at Headbolt Lane
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleMerseyside, North West England
Termini
Stations39
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemNational Rail
OperatorMerseyrail
DepotKirkdale TMD
Rolling stockClass 777
Technical
Number of tracksTwo
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification750 V DC third rail
Operating speed60 mph (97 km/h) maximum
Route map

(Click to expand)

The Northern line is one of two railway lines operated by Merseyrail, a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Lancashire and Cheshire, in North West England. The line has its southern terminus at Hunts Cross in south Liverpool, from which it runs in a generally northerly direction through Liverpool city centre before splitting into three branches which terminate at Southport, Ormskirk and Headbolt Lane. It serves a total of 39 stations.

The line has interchanges with the Wirral line, Merseyrail's other line, at Moorfields and Liverpool Central, which are subterranean stations. Hunts Cross and Liverpool South Parkway allow interchange with City line services, and Liverpool South Parkway also allows interchange with regional and long-distance services. Northern Trains services can be connected to at Headbolt Lane, Ormskirk and Southport.

History

A 1909 map showing former lines

Pre-electrification

The line from Walton Junction to Liverpool Exchange was constructed by the Liverpool and Bury Railway (L&BR), opening in 1948 between Walton Junction and Great Howard Street, although the line would open under the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) after a merger occurred a year prior in 1847. The line would extend to a station on Tithebarn Street in 1850, before finally reaching Liverpool Exchange in 1888. The lines towards Aintree and Ormskirk were built by the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway, itself also taken over by the L&YR in 1847, with the lines opening two years later in 1849. The whole section between Southport and Sandhills was constructed by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway (LC&SR), opening from Southport to Waterloo in 1848, and then to Sandhills in 1850. The LC&SR would be taken over by the L&YR as late as 1855.: 1 

Electrification

The line is electrified using 750 V DC third rail, identical to the third rail system present in southern England. It was also amongst the first main lines to be electrified, done so by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway due to increased tram competition and the line being at operating capacity.: 2  Unlike today, this was originally done with a fourth rail system similar to that seen in London: 3  although, from 1906 onwards, the fourth rail would be excluded, with it slowly removed from prior sections.: 4 

Early electrification was completed in several stages:

1960s to the present

Electrification was cut back to Southport in the north in 1964 as part of the Southport-Preston line closure under the Beeching Cuts,: 4  stations closing which previously had electric services were St Lukes, Hesketh Park, Churchtown and Crossens. Electric services also ceased running to Meols Cop, although the conductor rail remained until 1970 to serve the large depot near the station, which continues to serve trains on the Southport to Wigan/Manchester line today.

It was also fully intended for the whole main line between Southport and Liverpool Exchange to also be closed under the Beeching Cuts, although the North Mersey Branch to Ormskirk would remain unscathed. This would not go ahead, with various forms of action undertaken to lessen maintenance on the line, such as removing platform canopies, and even in some cases platform buildings.: 20  After a study was undertaken in 1969, referred to as the Merseyside Area Land Use & Transportation Study, by the then Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority, the Northern Line would be introduced in 1977 alongside the new Link Line under the Mersey Railways Extensions Act of 1968;: 4  this would see the previously threatened main line to Southport and the branch to Ormskirk secured and brought under this new line.: 22 

Merseyrail service map, with the Northern line in blue

Electrification done as part of the new Link Line are as follows:

Later additions and extensions to the line, after the Link line was opened in 1977, were:

Passenger volume

Annual passenger numbers from April 2002 to April 2022 were:

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 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
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 2,675,304 2,496,384 3,980,176 4,129,340 4,147,064 4,240,372 4,140,152 4,271,792 4,710,560 1,266,712 3,094,396 3,339,582
Birkdale 164,753 251,641 256,424 270,277 289,106 820,240 783,066 770,104 734,950 702,168 915,232 954,774 999,758 1,035,000 1,051,252 1,257,834 1,361,614 337,370 851,710 974,514
Hillside 125,031 158,618 178,252 177,678 180,744 688,812 579,460 590,254 579,538 551,928 552,272 542,006 521,616 535,374 638,996 685,694 761,684 187,474 474,834 507,842
Ainsdale 210,317 289,260 322,911 328,423 345,791 998,438 955,328 972,616 960,772 899,420 956,960 983,858 1,004,554 1,023,510 928,028 1,016,242 1,127,850 321,382 768,028 920,626
Freshfield 169,370 249,567 266,415 277,933 283,772 827,718 798,444 795,312 760,336 715,288 740,700 771,648 777,812 773,750 721,168 712,078 773,250 205,926 484,074 498,888
Formby 279,822 424,875 482,312 525,841 553,546 1,668,128 1,576,974 1,595,890 1,513,544 1,401,584 1,282,716 1,311,918 1,385,228 1,492,202 1,476,462 1,516,340 1,547,950 418,070 995,964 1,062,658
Hightown 84,188 117,664 133,241 141,686 150,991 439,588 409,956 416,844 408,562 381,300 312,412 316,878 314,282 308,872 311,404 353,172 394,406 98,624 248,152 266,572
Hall Road 50,377 69,251 76,158 88,355 91,686 288,584 270,198 269,744 256,008 240,056 247,266 259,738 259,346 263,248 266,608 460,036 537,534 131,668 312,314 331,508
Blundellsands and Crosby 296,685 457,346 518,823 561,676 599,071 1,839,920 1,717,962 1,735,882 1,643,472 1,532,170 1,324,328 1,369,650 1,411,140 1,470,212 1,437,202 1,667,950 1,829,110 482,154 1,196,618 1,365,008
Waterloo 433,285 601,447 660,922 669,416 720,522 1,136,872 1,022,416 1,014,942 955,878 856,588 1,476,604 1,510,596 1,536,244 1,578,018 1,551,654 1,683,954 1,932,646 553,012 1,237,784 1,324,016
Seaforth and Litherland 176,145 300,292 335,884 337,209 362,341 832,894 766,468 789,156 761,342 684,324 731,628 750,192 759,314 764,674 790,704 871,670 1,019,398 351,030 715,640 880,034
Bootle New Strand 345,451 415,685 404,558 348,458 405,802 977,696 909,922 931,806 911,870 842,682 952,994 974,574 976,556 982,592 966,082 1,026,300 1,221,302 398,572 789,718 747,492
Bootle Oriel Road 57,791 155,295 203,956 249,030 209,041 523,944 511,614 521,576 511,164 475,814 598,050 617,332 642,868 637,608 649,772 787,114 842,670 224,108 503,766 584,074
Bank Hall 51,477 71,052 74,624 62,692 85,014 197,086 171,010 172,426 174,680 160,480 160,876 159,438 164,114 168,450 172,016 257,006 317,538 93,466 184,840 211,188
Ormskirk branch
Ormskirk 726,015 693,376 716,362 733,381 770,621 1,026,546 998,858 878,782 715,490 727,620 2,058,604 2,096,328 2,163,374 2,263,204 2,006,936 2,255,722 2,409,296 549,410 1,664,370 1,820,516
Aughton Park 95,060 86,413 83,012 89,200 85,699 124,736 109,592 96,224 78,530 78,136 179,740 183,340 187,670 200,604 180,544 204,282 218,496 37,232 112,192 139,550
Town Green 188,160 183,233 203,324 202,425 206,180 259,972 239,100 193,200 149,408 141,760 337,112 346,602 365,836 384,974 338,544 395,678 435,124 101,734 290,144 360,580
Maghull 394,191 431,945 502,020 610,318 696,791 2,144,046 1,999,436 1,956,936 1,863,098 1,745,454 1,765,756 1,821,492 1,812,534 1,865,348 1,870,086 1,639,668 1,789,936 463,100 1,106,204 1,164,994
Old Roan 177,332 260,871 284,901 305,589 337,166 918,262 861,176 863,568 815,704 748,070 864,554 896,562 903,968 921,306 930,812 1,006,706 1,185,406 320,184 787,518 847,726
Aintree 284,514 388,230 376,908 412,132 473,143 1,251,404 1,173,276 1,197,258 1,147,296 1,078,704 1,141,532 1,084,348 1,059,602 1,048,614 1,093,656 1,175,920 1,295,348 301,632 725,908 841,662
Orrell Park 369,037 452,889 473,979 469,256 491,948 1,257,746 1,170,676 1,192,140 1,186,210 1,088,622 1,031,132 1,040,358 1,032,522 1,057,416 1,035,218 1,124,446 1,313,788 355,900 813,262 1,052,986
Walton 65,155 93,261 110,471 113,214 113,131 179,148 162,612 164,478 159,384 141,182 269,260 272,784 271,828 261,742 248,896 450,148 571,226 151,334 334,012 418,168
Kirkdale 299,396 410,808 452,155 441,525 479,342 1,179,346 1,085,418 1,099,018 1,084,206 992,908 854,320 866,218 869,870 893,198 884,302 1,067,562 1,272,022 365,524 850,892 1,033,786
Kirkby branch
Kirkby 350,098 516,007 560,285 639,337 739,590 2,191,476 2,050,590 2,006,486 1,891,982 1,750,270 2,357,814 2,408,810 2,356,170 2,428,340 2,427,778 2,488,916 2,909,204 877,884 1,899,772 2,060,974
Fazakerley 215,019 300,552 329,306 318,664 330,843 889,816 832,474 864,108 861,054 789,698 1,061,930 1,088,202 1,088,808 1,108,962 1,135,988 1,250,320 1,465,622 413,542 920,166 899,436
Rice Lane 64,677 102,525 116,590 118,113 133,723 330,818 307,116 323,310 289,968 281,026 297,262 314,362 315,126 325,322 324,336 580,620 723,792 209,562 416,686 503,810
Kirkdale See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above See above 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 178,991 272,009 314,309 306,134 207,944 390,346 446,210 495,458 501,448 471,804 1,250,086 1,324,068 1,321,020 1,323,174 1,325,892 1,088,132 1,298,784 341,714 815,288 778,764
Moorfields 339,533 309,014 383,815 1,577,540 2,141,398 5,141,655 4,445,984 4,637,356 6,363,434 6,049,491 6,541,235 6,832,585 6,996,347 7,173,567 7,365,918 6,534,016 7,361,420 1,613,112 4,807,882 5,100,886
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 14,224,147 13,522,391 14,621,585 15,272,837 15,638,894 16,035,031 16,464,993 14,605,446 16,454,940 3,605,780 10,747,030 11,401,980
Brunswick 224,476 352,854 407,134 410,813 442,711 1,061,698 979,312 963,252 1,007,874 908,670 829,356 871,856 929,958 1,037,186 1,032,192 1,128,162 1,273,262 311,496 696,788 782,698
St Michaels 195,408 289,183 365,547 360,976 378,944 562,860 506,288 469,570 466,728 387,532 873,112 936,740 977,510 1,006,394 1,010,820 1,128,708 1,308,664 349,670 785,816 950,870
Aigburth 146,283 179,458 241,063 246,583 265,442 761,362 696,992 681,774 702,378 614,374 686,496 746,784 833,452 812,582 743,410 864,238 974,200 203,034 483,488 567,018
Cressington 74,789 120,034 152,383 164,734 170,409 456,042 424,174 421,076 427,480 386,376 463,148 477,112 476,636 490,986 517,108 636,070 750,210 181,814 432,612 484,174
Garston 141,022 190,778 222,247 42,886 Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed
Liverpool South Parkway N/a N/a N/a 288,845 419,681 568,822 581,898 641,662 733,698 740,414 1,785,444 1,803,308 1,893,958 1,983,726 2,247,290 2,745,588 2,663,414 573,572 1,460,056 1,812,630
Hunts Cross 277,961 326,258 443,837 464,367 503,426 1,269,710 1,190,934 1,172,150 1,160,738 1,062,798 1,289,590 1,364,502 1,410,366 1,450,268 1,446,138 1,452,752 1,827,454 530,966 1,155,580 1,307,550
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 since the period 2019–20 have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the period 2020–23.

Services

Services from Hunts Cross generally continue to Southport, while trains to Ormskirk and Headbolt Lane start at Liverpool Central. Daytime trains operate every 15 minutes on each of the three routes, but every 30 minutes evenings and Sundays.

Special timetables are implemented for major events, such as the Grand National meeting at Aintree Racecourse and tournaments at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. These involve changing services on all branches and the closure of stations in anticipation of overcrowding risks.

There are a total of 12 trains per hour (tph) running on the central section between Sandhills and Liverpool Central. The service pattern is shown below.

Northern line service pattern
Route Frequency (tph)
Monday–Saturday Sunday
Ormskirk–Sandhills–Liverpool Central–Liverpool South Parkway–Hunts Cross42
Southport–Formby–Sandhills–Liverpool Central42
Headbolt Lane–Sandhills–Liverpool Central42


Future

Plans to reopen St James station have been proposed. Merseytravel agreed to work with Liverpool Vision in March 2014 to investigate the cost of reopening the station and its projected usage. Merseytravel listed the reopening of St James station as a top rail project on a Rail Development and Delivery Committee report in 2016. The plans were confirmed with the station to be named Liverpool Baltic, construction is planned to begin in 2025.

As part of Lancashire County Council's plans to build a new station at Skelmersdale, it proposed an extension to the Northern line that would change the terminus of the Kirkby branch of the line from Headbolt Lane to Skelmersdale. The proposals could see Merseyrail services also passing through Rainford. 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.

The combined authority's Long Term Rail Strategy states that a review in 2020 to introduce new Merseyrail battery trains will be undertaken, in view to add Preston in to the network by extending the Northern line from Ormskirk. It adds that "the potential use of battery-powered Merseyrail units may improve the business case."

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "About Merseyrail". Merseyrail. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Forbes, Felton & Rush 1976.
  6. ↑ Marshall, John (1970). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Vol. 2. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4906-9.
  7. ↑ Gahan, John W. (1982). Seventeen Stations to Dingle. Birkenhead: Countrywise. ISBN 978-0-90-776820-3.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cadwallader & Jenkins 2010.
  9. ↑ Graham, Tony; Wright, Paul (18 May 2017). "Meols Cop Triangle & Electric Car Sheds". Disused Stations. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gorton & Engh 2021.
  11. ↑ "Wigan Wallgate to Kirkby line closure". Northernrailway.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Next Stop: Headbolt Lane – £80m station served by UK's first battery-powered trains to open this week". Merseytravel. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Headbolt Lane opening on Thursday". 3 October 2023. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Thorp, Liam (18 March 2019). "Merseyrail releases timetables for Grand National Festival weekend". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Northern Line Rail Services". Merseyrail.org. 17 May 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Thomas, Joe (21 January 2015). "Merseytravel plan St James station reopening study in next financial year". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  17. ↑ "Merseytravel Committee Rail Development and Delivery" (PDF). Merseytravel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "New Liverpool Baltic station £96m funding set for approval". BBC News. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  19. ↑ Houghton, Alistair (18 September 2017). "Skelmersdale rail link moves step closer as £5m funding revealed". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  20. ↑ "Long Term Rail Strategy" (PDF). Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. 1 October 2017. p. 37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.

Bibliography

  • Forbes, N.N.; Felton, B.J.; Rush, R.W. (1976). The Electric Line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (1 ed.). Electric Railway Society. SBN 855340142.
  • Cadwallader, J.; Jenkins, M. (2010). Merseyside Electrics. Ian Allen. ISBN 978-0-71-103417-4.
  • Gorton, P.; Engh, M. (2021). Merseyrail: 50 years of Progress. Class 502 Preservation Trust.

53°24′16″N 2°58′47″W / 53.4045°N 2.9798°W / 53.4045; -2.9798