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original at Birkdale copied on 27 June
Birkdale  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Birkdale, Sefton England | ||||
| Grid reference | SD330157 | ||||
| Managed by | Merseyrail | ||||
| Transit authority | Merseytravel | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | BDL | ||||
| Fare zone | D1 | ||||
| Classification | DfT category E | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 31 July 1848 | Opened as "Gilbert's Crossing" 56 chains (1.1 km) nearer Liverpool | ||||
| 1851 | Replaced on present site as "Birkdale Park"[1] | ||||
| Before 1910 | Renamed "Birkdale"[2] | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2018/19 |  1.258 million | ||||
| 2019/20 | 1.362 million | ||||
| 2020/21 |  0.337 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 0.852 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.975 million | ||||
| |||||
Birkdale railway station serves the Birkdale suburb of Southport, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line.
History
editThe first Birkdale station opened on the then new, single track Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. This station was located at " Gilbert's Crossing", over half a mile nearer Liverpool than the present station.[3] The line was subsequently developed rapidly, being doubled and completed through to Liverpool. In 1851 this station was replaced by a wholly new, two platform station called "Birkdale Park" which formed the basis of the present day station. By 1910 it had been renamed plain "Birkdale". Both the later station and the original station building at what had evolved to be mapped as "Gilbert's Crossing" can be seen on the Edwardian OS 6" map.[4] The old station building was not demolished until 1965.[5] By 2012 Gilbert's Crossing was obliterated by housing. It was just south of the junction of Dunkirk and Dover roads.
BIRKDALE [LY] op 24 July 1848**; B PARK 1854 tt to 1865 tt (Cl); still open.
Site of first station not known for certain but road crossing next north of Gilbert’s Crossing likeliest. 13 November 1848 Board discussed closing this and Hightown because of poor takings. Minutes 26 December suggest they had moved station to Gilbert’s Crossing (on later Peel Lane) about a month previously; nothing said about Hightown but new site for Birkdale would have been within easy reach of potential custom from former. 3 August 1852 orders were given to open ‘forthwith’ the new [third] station at Birkdale, on present site, well to north. It is not clear whether it was an immediate replacement or whether there was a gap. If Hightown did close, nothing so far found about reopening. (RAIL 372 series). [6]
The line became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855.[7] 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 privatisation in 1995).
The signal box adjacent to the station, built in 1905, is a Grade II listed building.[8]
Facilities
editThe station is staffed, during all opening hours, and has platform CCTV. There is a booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. There is car parking for 90 cars, secure cycle storage for 24 cycles and cycle racks for a further 26 cycles. A subway links both platforms but both platforms can be accessed without steps via the level crossing.[9]
Services
editTrains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.[10]
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southport | Merseyrail Northern Line |
Hillside towards Hunts Cross | ||
References
edit- ^ Harrop 1985, pp. 136 & 144.
- ^ Bradshaw 1968, p. 756.
- ^ The first Birkdale station on an 1847 OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
- ^ Birkdale's first two stations on an OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
- ^ Harrop 1985, p. 145.
- ^ Quick 2023, p. 82.
- ^ Awdry 1990, p. 88.
- ^ Historic England, "Birkdale Signal Box (1412052)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 January 2016
- ^ "Birkdale train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ Table 82 National Rail timetable, May 2023
Bibliography
edit- Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
- Bradshaw, George (1968) [1910]. Bradshaw's Railway Guide: April 1910. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4246-0.
- Harrop, Sylvia (1985). Old Birkdale and Ainsdale: Life on the South West Lancashire coast 1600-1851. Birkdale, Southport: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 0-9510905-0-X.
- Quick, Michael (2023) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.05. Railway & Canal Historical Society.