Hoylake railway station

Hoylake railway station serves the town of Hoylake, Wirral, England. It lies on the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network. The station also offers free car parking facilities at all times.[1]

Hoylake
Hoylake railway station as viewed from the car park
Location	Hoylake, Wirral England
Grid reference	SJ216887
Managed by	Merseyrail
Transit authority	Merseytravel
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	HYK
Fare zone	B2
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
1866	Opened
1938	Rebuilt and electrified
Passengers
2015/16	0.504 million
2016/17	0.479 million
2017/18	0.469 million
2018/19	0.574 million
2019/20	0.645 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station was opened to regular service on 2 July 1866, as part of the Hoylake Railway to Birkenhead Dock railway station.[2][3] The station originally had low cinder-filled platforms.[4] An extension to West Kirby was opened on 1 April 1878, and the line from West Kirby was doubled in 1896.[5][6] The station had a signal box which was originally built at the eastern end of the station and provided in 1889.[6][7] The 21-lever signal box was moved, to be adjacent to the level crossing, in 1895.[7]

From no later than 1901, there were several sidings to the east of the station.[8] There was a carriage shed and a Wirral Railway paint shop from prior to 1912.[9][10][11] The paint shop was closed after the LMS takeover.[12]

1938 LMS rebuild and electrification

Prior to 1938, the station was of varying architectural styles.[13] Built in 1938 adjoining the Up platform, the current station building, designed by the architect William Henry Hamlyn, is in the Art Deco style, with a circular clerestory over the booking hall, becoming a Grade II Listed Building in 1988.[14][15][16][17] The sign currently on display in front of the station was recently restored during a renovation.[18] The adjoining footbridge was built at the same time as the Art Deco building, and new level crossing gates were installed.[10][19] The goods yard had a 5-ton crane from 1938.[20]

Through electric services to Liverpool Central commenced on 13 March 1938, when the LMS electrified the lines from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby.[21][22] The service was provided by the then-new LMS electric multiple units. However, on Sunday mornings, the service was provided by the older Mersey Railway electric units which, up until that point, had only ever run from Liverpool to Birkenhead Park.[23]

Since WWII

The multiple sidings to the east of the station continued to be used until 1965. They were used both to store out-of-service electric trains and to serve a freight depot receiving coal for domestic distribution, and also to fuel the gasworks situated alongside the line at this point[24][8] which lasted until 1954.[25] The signal box, which had a manual gate wheel for the level crossing, was closed on 17 September 1994 and demolished a few days later.[7][26]

When the Open Golf Championship was held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (situated between West Kirby and Hoylake) in July 2006, September 2012 and July 2014, services terminated here during the tournament.[27] This was to allow competitors to cross the tracks from the practice course on one side to the championship course on the other.[27][28] This caused some controversy in West Kirby locally in 2006, especially given the increase in passengers during the championship.[29][30] A rail replacement bus service was put in place between Hoylake and West Kirby.[31]

Facilities

The station is staffed during all opening hours, and has platform CCTV.[1] Each of the two platforms has a seated waiting shelter. There is a payphone, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information.[1] The station provides a "Park and Ride" service. There are a further 167 car parking spaces,[32] which are free to use for travellers, with lighting columns and CCTV to meet Merseytravel's Travelsafe requirements, as well as a 14-space cycle rack.[32] There is step-free access available to both platforms by the use of the level crossing.

Services

Current services are every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime) to West Kirby and Liverpool. At other times, trains operate every 30 minutes.[33] Services are provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

Gallery

• 
  The waiting room on the West Kirby-bound platform.
• 
  A Merseyrail Class 507 passes a signal, and departs beneath the footbridge, towards West Kirby.
• 
  The guard waits to signal the departure of a Liverpool-bound train.
• 
  The platform entrance to the booking office.

References

1. "Station Facilities for Hoylake". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
2. Maund 2009, p. 10
3. Maund 2009, p. 7
4. Maund 2009, p. 12
5. Maund 2009, p. 18
6. Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 57
7. Maund 2009, p. 229
8. Mitchell & Smith 2014, map XIII
9. Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 53
10. Merseyside Railway History Group 1994, pp. 38–39
11. Maund 2009, p. 59
12. Maund 2009, p. 131
13. Maund 2009, p. 54
14. Maund 2009, p. 160
15. Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 55
16. "Hoylake". Wirral Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
17. "Heritage Gateway". English Heritage. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
18. Hughes, Lorna (26 March 2008). "Hoylake Station sign back home". Wirral News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
19. Maund 2009, p. 162
20. Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 54
21. Gahan 1983, p. 63
22. Maund 2009, p. 166
23. Gahan 1983, p. 67
24. Maund 2009, p. 125
25. Maund 2009, p. 210
26. Cadwallader & Jenkins 2010, p. 73
27. "Open Golf:: Park and ride sites now identified". Wirral Globe. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
28. Dunn, Justin (11 July 2006). "Station ready after £600,000 revamp". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
29. "Lessons that must be learned..." Wirral Globe. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
30. Dunn, Justin (21 July 2006). "Record number take the train to the Open". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
31. "The Open Championship Briefing" (PDF). Merseyside Police. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
32. "Hoylake train station facilities". Merseyrail. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
33. "Wirral Line timetable" (PDF). Merseyrail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

Sources

• Cadwallader, Jonathan; Jenkins, Martin (2010). Merseyside Electrics. Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711034174. OCLC 455806364.
• Gahan, John W. (1983). Steel Wheels to Deeside - The Wirral Railway past and present. Birkenhead: Countryvise. ISBN 0-907768-70-9.
• Maund, T.B. (2009). The Wirral Railway and its Predecessors. Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press. ISBN 978-1-899-88938-9.
• Merseyside Railway History Group (1994). Railway Stations of Wirral. Prenton: Ian & Marilyn Boumphrey. ISBN 1-899241-02-7. OCLC 500124599.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Birkenhead to West Kirby. West Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1908174611. OCLC 885451764.

External links

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

• Station information for Hoylake railway station from Merseyrail