Birkdale railway station

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.

Birkdale
Location	Birkdale, Sefton England
Coordinates	53.6340°N 3.0145°W
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 56 chains (1.1 km) nearer Liverpool
1851	Replaced on present site as "Birkdale Park"[1]
Before 1910	Renamed "Birkdale"[2]
Passengers
2015/16	0.999 million
2016/17	1.035 million
2017/18	1.051 million
2018/19	1.258 million
2019/20	1.362 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The first Birkdale station opened on the then new, single track Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. This station was located at "Old Gilbert's", 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 completely obliterated by housing. It was just south of the junction of Dunkirk and Dover roads.

The line became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855.[6] 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.[7]

Facilities

The 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.[8]

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday and on summer Sundays to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Winter Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.

Gallery

• 
  The Liverpool-bound platform.
• 
  Looking north, along the Liverpool-bound platform.
• 
  The disused signal box.
• 
  Birkdale Station entrance, in 1964.

References

1. Harrop 1985, pp. 136 & 144.
2. Bradshaw 1968, p. 756.
3. The first Birkdale station on an 1847 OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
4. Birkdale's first two stations on an OS 6" map, via National Library of Scotland
5. Harrop 1985, p. 145.
6. Awdry 1990, p. 88.
7. Historic England, "Birkdale Signal Box (1412052)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 January 2016
8. "Birkdale train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.

Sources

• 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.

External links

• Train times and station information for Birkdale railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Birkdale railway station from Merseyrail