Merseyrail - Merseyrail History/Merseyrail Collection of Separate Railways - H

Merseyrail - H

Merseyrail History

Merseyrail Collection of Separate Railways

The present Merseyrail system was merged from the lines of five former pre-Grouping rail systems:

The Mersey Railway (Liverpool Central to Rock Ferry, Birkenhead Park)
The Cheshire Lines Committee railway (Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross section)
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (Liverpool Exchange to Kirkby, Ormskirk and Southport sections)
The Wirral Railway (Birkenhead Park to New Brighton and West Kirby)
The Birkenhead Joint Railway (Rock Ferry to Hooton and Chester section and the Ellesmere Port branch).

The nucleus of the system was the Mersey Railway, which opened from Liverpool James Street to Green Lane, Birkenhead running through the 1886 Mersey Railway Tunnel, one of the world's first underwater railway tunnels.

The tunnelled route was extended to Liverpool Central in 1890. A tunnelled branch to Birkenhead Park was added in 1888 to connect with the Wirral Railway and the original line was extended to Rock Ferry to connect with the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line in 1891.

The Mersey Railway was electrified in 1903 being the world's first full electrification of a steam railway. This was followed by the separate Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway line from Liverpool Exchange to Southport, which was electrified in 1906. The electrification of the former Wirral Railway lines to New Brighton and West Kirby took place in 1937 and allowed through running into Liverpool via the Mersey Railway tunnel.

Merseyrail Overview

Owner: Merseytravel, Network Rail

Area Served: Liverpool City Region and surrounding areas

Locale:

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)

Annual Ridership:

2019: 30.6 million

2020: 9.0 million

2021: 20.0 million

Chief Executive: Neil Grabham

Headquarters: Rail House, Liverpool

Merseyrail Operation

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

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