Merseyrail
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| Franchise(s): | Merseyrail 20. July 2003 – 2028 |
| Main Region(s): | Merseyside |
| Other Region(s): | North Cheshire, West Lancashire |
| Fleet size: | 59 |
| Stations: | 67 (66 operated) |
| Parent company: | Serco Group / NedRailways |
| Web site: | www.merseyrail.org |
Merseyrail is the name given to the electric commuter train network centred on Liverpool in the county of Merseyside. The name was used as the official brand for the network in the days of British Rail, and has stuck through several franchise holders.
Merseyrail is one of the most frequent British commuter systems outside London, transporting 100,000 passengers a day, with services running (on average) every 15 minutes during weekday daytime, and 30 minutes at evenings and weekends. Services run on two lines covering the Liverpool suburban area and greater Merseyside, with a total track length of 120 km, 75 miles and 67 stations. The Northern Line links Liverpool with Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby and Hunts Cross, while the Wirral Line, extending under the River Mersey, links Liverpool with New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port. The two lines are entirely electrified, using a 750 V DC third-rail.
The name Merseyrail is also used by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive to describe other railway services on Merseyside. These are the City Line from Liverpool Lime Street to St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Manchester, and Crewe. These services are not (and have never been) part of the Merseyrail franchise; currently most services are operated by Northern Rail, and some by Central Trains and TransPennine Express.
The various lines are not tightly connected; Northern and City Line services both use Hunts Cross and the new Liverpool South Parkway to the south of the city; the Northern and Wirral lines both use Liverpool Central and Moorfields. The Northern Line does not call at Lime Street; most passengers wishing to change between Northern Line and mainline services walk the short distance between Lime Street and Liverpool Central rather than changing to the Wirral Line's 'loop' to Lime Street.
Following the privatisation of the UK rail network, the Merseyrail service was run first by Merseyside Transport Ltd (MTL) under the name Merseyrail Electrics, then Arriva Trains Merseyside, before its award to a consortium of Serco and NedRailways (a division of Nederlandse Spoorwegen) in 2003. The current franchise is contracted to the consortium for an initial 25-year period.
Uniquely in the UK, the Merseyrail franchise (referred to officially as a 'contract') is awarded by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive rather than the Department for Transport (although the franchise for the London Overground network will be awarded by Transport for London in 2007), because the franchise is self-contained and separate from the rest of the British railway network - no other services normally run over the third-rail network. As a result of this isolation, the franchise-holder is keen to adopt vertical integration - taking responsibility for maintenance of the track from Network Rail.The current Franchise Manager is Dave Davenport.
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[edit] Fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Unit numbers | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||||
| Class 507 |  |
electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 32 | Northern Line Wirral Line |
507001-021, 023-033 | 1978 - 1979 |
| Class 508 |  |
electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 27 | Northern Line Wirral Line |
508103, 104, 108, 110-112, 114, 115, 117, 120, 122-128, 130, 131, 134, 136-141, 143 | 1979 - 1980 |
Services on the Merseyrail network are operated by the 1978-built Class 507 and 1979-built Class 508 EMUs. These replaced pre-war Class 502 (originally constructed by the LMS) and almost identical Class 503 EMUs. There are a total of 59 trains in service on the network. Twelve 508s were transferred to Connex (South Eastern) in 1996, a further three were transferred to Silverlink to supplement their fleet of Class 313 EMUs in North London. One Unit 507022 was scrapped after a collision with 507004 in 1991, and 508118 has been cut up after having been gutted by an arson attack.
The fleet is maintained and stabled at either Kirkdale TMD or Birkenhead North TMD, the two depots on the network. Minor repair works and stock cleaning takes place at Kirkdale, while overhauls are completed at Birkenhead. Other depots at Hall Road and Birkenhead Central have since been closed. The fleet has recently been internally and externally refurbished, involving units being dragged to and from Eastleigh works behind Class 67 locomotives.
To celebrate Liverpool's successful 2008 European Capital of Culture bid, Merseyrail named one of their train sets (508136) 'Capital of Culture'. Interestingly, a previous ceremony took place where Cherie Blair, Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, named 508143 Capital of Culture. Official nameplates were applied; these had to be later removed having been covered in graffiti. 508136 bears simple vinyl stickers.
A number of Northern Rail Class 142 DMUs are in Merseyrail yellow livery, ostensibly for City Line services, but these can and do turn up all over the Northern network - they have often been seen as far away as Skipton. Several Class 150 sets also wore the Merseytravel yellow livery for several years, but have since been repainted into other liveries.
Merseyrail formerly had four Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives for shunting, sandite trains, engineering works and other departmental duties; two of these had been repainted in the yellow livery of the previous franchise holder. These locomotives were sold to a preservation company in 2002.
[edit] Network: the Loop and Link
The underground sections in the centre of Liverpool and under the River Mersey to Birkenhead form the nucleus of the network. The Mersey Railway Tunnel was opened in 1886, terminating at James Street in Liverpool. This route was extended to Liverpool Central in 1890. The present system in Liverpool dates from the 1970s, with the construction of the 'Loop' and the 'Link'. The Loop is a single-track tunnel, along which Wirral Line trains run clockwise from James Street to Moorfields, Lime Street, Central and back to James Street. The Link is a twin-track tunnel, which connects the former Cheshire Lines Committee route in the south of Liverpool to the former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway lines in the north, via Liverpool Central and Moorfields. There is a single underground line which connects the Link and the Loop lines, which is used for transfers of rolling stock, but this is never used for passenger services.
[edit] Northern Line
- Main article: Northern Line
Services on the Northern Line operate from Hunts Cross in the south of Liverpool, via the Link tunnel through Liverpool Central and Moorfields, to Southport. Services also run from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk and Kirkby. Each route has a train every 15 minutes Monday-Saturday daytime, giving a five-minute interval between trains on the central section. Connections are available at Southport to Wigan, at Hunts Cross to Warrington Central and Manchester Piccadilly, at Ormskirk to Preston and at Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria.
[edit] Wirral Line
Services on the Wirral Line operate from the Loop described above through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Hamilton Square station in Birkenhead. From there, they run either south to Hooton, where they continue to either Chester or Ellesmere Port, or west to Birkenhead North, where the line bifurcates to New Brighton and West Kirby. Connections are available at Bidston on the West Kirby branch, for the Borderlands Line to Wrexham operated by Arriva Trains Wales, at Chester to Holyhead and Manchester and at Ellesmere Port to Warrington.
Monday-Saturday daytime services are every 15 minutes from Liverpool to New Brighton and to West Kirby, and every 30 minutes to Chester and Ellesmere Port. These combine to give a service every five minutes around the Loop. Due to a major upgrade of the Liverpool loop, it will be closed between 23rd April and 28th of May, with all Wirral line services terminating at James Street (or Birkenhead North for the Northern Branch of the Wirral Line, and Birkenhead Central for the Southern Branch of the Wirral line on some days).
[edit] City Line
- Main article: City Line
This line is not part of the Merseyrail franchise, and neither is it operated by the electric stock. Nevertheless, the lines that form this line are sponsored by Merseytravel and are branded as if they were Merseyrail services, despite being operated by Northern Rail. Broadly speaking, it includes the Liverpool to Wigan Line and the two alternative branches making up the Liverpool to Manchester Line.
[edit] Future
There have been various suggestions for ways to enlarge the Merseyrail network. Some would extend beyond the current area, whilst others would use existing lines or track beds.
[edit] Electrification
Third-rail electrification has been suggested for many lines, of which the Borderlands Line from Bidston to Wrexham, adding another branch to the Wirral Line, is perhaps the most likely.
Electrification from Ormskirk to Preston would re-establish the most direct Liverpool-Preston route. This, coupled with the reinstatement of the Burscough curves and possibly Midge Hall station, would allow direct Preston-Southport and Ormskirk-Southport services and provide an alternative Liverpool-Southport route. Another possible extension of Northern Line services, filling in a gap in the electrified network, would be from Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate.
The re-opening of part of the North Mersey Branch line between Aintree and Bootle New Strand stations to passenger services is included in Sefton's transport plan. This would involve using Sefton Junction and would enable the reopening of Ford [1] and Linacre Road [2] stations.
The Canada Dock Branch [3] (currently a busy freight-only line) could be reopened to passengers, allowing the reopening of Spellow, Walton & Anfield, Breck Road, Tue Brook, Stanley and Edge Lane stations. This would provide a connection from the Northern Line (south of Bootle) to Liverpool Lime Street and the City Line.
[edit] Reopening
During the construction of the Link line in the 1970s, provision was made for an underground junction south of Liverpool Central station. This was to access a new tunnel, via a new underground station at the University of Liverpool, then joining the Victoria Tunnel and Waterloo Tunnel to provide a connection to Edge Hill, the use of Wapping Tunnel had also been considered. Further electrification works would then have meant some City Line services (e.g. from St Helens Central) could have been connected to the Merseyrail network.
In 1975 An Act of Parliament was passed to allow the construction of this scheme, but it was never built. Restarting it would very likely be prohibitively expensive. However following the collapse of the Merseytram scheme in 2006 proposals are being considered to reuse both tunnels. The 1975 plan also included the use of the southern section of the North Liverpool Extension Line at least as far as Gateacre.
The reconnection of Skelmersdale has also been proposed "requiring two mile rail restoration to re-establish link to town of 35,000". This is presumably the Skelmersdale Branch line to Rainford Junction on the Kirkby to Wigan Wallgate line.
[edit] External links
- Merseyrail.org - Official site
- Merseyside Local Transport Plan
- Potential Rail Improvements in North Western England - Evidence presented to the Transport Select Committee, 2002-03
- Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs: Memorandum by Merseytravel
- REVIEW OF THE 2000 NETWORK MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
- Revival of curves link is back on the table - Report on the proposed reopening of the Burscough curves
- Leader on right tracks - Another report on the Burscough curves
- The Wrexham to Bidston railway, The Borderlands line
| Preceded by Arriva Trains Merseyside |
Operator of Merseyrail franchise 2003-present |
Succeeded by N/A |
| Domestic: | Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains1 - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - Grand Central2 - GNER - Heathrow Connect Hull Trains - Island Line3 - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline1 - Northern Rail Northern Ireland Railways4 - 'one' - Silverlink1 - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains - TransPennine Express - Virgin Trains (VWC - VXC1) |
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| International: | Enterprise4 - Eurostar |
| Airport Link: | Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express5 |
| Sleeper: | Caledonian Sleeper6 - Night Riviera7 |
| 1 Ends November 2007 - 2 Starts 20 May 2007 - 3 Operated by South West Trains 4 Operated on the Irish railway network - 5 Operated by 'one' - 6 Operated by First ScotRail 7 Operated by First Great Western |
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| Future passenger train operators and franchises in Great Britain | |
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| New Franchises: | Cross Country1 - East Midlands1 - InterCity East Coast - London Overground1 West Midlands1 |
| Proposed open-access operators: |
Glasgow Trains2 - Grand Union2 - Humber & City2 - Wrexham & Shropshire3 |
| 1 Starts November 2007 - 2 Proposed - 3 Awaiting Approval | |
