Merseyrail - Merseyrail Edge Hill Spur (Reusing the Mersey Tunnels) - U

 

 

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Edge Hill Spur scheme was proposed to link the east of the city with the central underground section. It would have extended the Merseyrail underground network from Liverpool Central Station to Edge Hill Station using existing freight tunnels.

 

The scheme was dropped, but a junction and two headers tunnels were built south of Central station to facilitate future construction of the Spur during the construction of the Northern Line tunnel.

 

The construction of the Spur would have connected the City Line branches to the east of Liverpool into the electrified Merseyrail network and importantly the underground section in Liverpool's city centre. An increase in integration and connectivity of the network would have been achieved. The Spur would have also formed the central section of the proposed Outer Rail Loop splitting the loop into two smaller loops (see Outer Loop section).

 

An additional and substantial benefit was diverting local urban trains entering the city from the east underground in the city centre. This would release platform space at Lime Street mainline terminus station for the use of only mid and long-haul mainline routes.

 

The initial and cheaper proposal was to re-use the 1829 Wapping freight tunnel, by means of two new single-track tunnels branched off the Northern Line tunnel at a new junction named Liverpool Central South Junction, south of Central Station.

 

The Wapping Tunnel would have given access to Edge Hill via the historic Cavendish cutting, built for the 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Access to the City Line would have been obtained via a flyover to the east of Edge Hill Station over the main lines from Lime Street. This flyover has since been demolished.

 

In the early 1970s, Liverpool City Council planners proposed an alternative scheme, which was subsequently adopted. This revised route would permit a new underground station to be constructed to serve Liverpool University, behind the Student's Union building in Mount Pleasant.

 

It would extend the two connecting tunnels from Central Station in a large radius curve to the north, passing beneath the mainline Lime Street station approach cutting and accessing Edge Hill via a section of the Waterloo/Victoria Tunnel. On emerging from this tunnel at the existing Edge Hill Station, the route would be on the north side of the main lines thereby removing the need for a flyover.

 

Although powers were obtained to build this line under the 1975 Merseyside Metropolitan Railway Act, construction was postponed due to the financial cutbacks and political opposition that also halted the Outer Rail Loop project. The east of Liverpool has suffered in many aspects ever since. An attempt was made to revive the project in the mid-1980s but it was found to be not financially viable.

 

Following the collapse of the Merseytram scheme in 2006, proposals were considered to revive the project, with the route of the tunnels currently safeguarded. Further references are made to the scheme, as a future option, in MerseyTravel's 30-year plan.

 

A further proposal to resurrect the Edge Hill spur scheme with a new station at Paddington Village was revealed in 2016 by the then Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, as part of a scheme to extend Liverpool's Knowledge Quarter onto the site of the former Archbishop Blanche School.

 

A feasibility study to reopen the Wapping Tunnel was commissioned and delivered in May 2016. The report found that the Wapping Tunnel was in good condition though suffered from flooding in places and would require some remedial work, but that the concept of reopening the tunnel was viable.

 

 

Owner: Merseytravel, Network Rail

Area Served: Liverpool City Region and surrounding areas

Liverpool City Region (Merseyside and Halton)

Cheshire

Lancashire

Transit Type: Commuter rail

Number of Lines: 2 (plus main line commuter services)

Number of Stations: 68 (66 managed)

2019: 30.6 million

2020: 9.0 million

2021: 20.0 million

Chief Executive: Neil Grabham

Headquarters: Rail House, Liverpool

 

 

Began Operation: 1977 - 46 years ago

Operator(s): Serco-Abellio

Infrastructure Manager(s): Network Rail

Character: Commuter rail, National Rail franchise

Number of Vehicles: 57

Train Length: 3 cars, 6 cars during peak times

Headway: 15 minutes (general), 5 minutes (central sections), 30 minutes (Ellesmere Port branch, general in evenings and on Sundays)

Technical Track Gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

Electrification: 750 V DC third rail