 | Liverpool Central station: Encyclopedia II - Liverpool Central station - History
Liverpool Central station - History
The original station, which was above ground, opened in 1874, at the end of the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line to Manchester. It replaced Brunswick station as the CLC's terminus, and was the headquarters of the committee. In 1891 the Low Level station opened, at the end of the Mersey Railway's route via the Mersey Railway Tunnel from Birkenhead, when their route was extended from James Street station. The Mersey Railway platforms were an underground, beneath the original Central station.
In 1966, most services on the CLC route were diverted to Liverpool Lime Street, leaving only a dozen trains per day to and from Gateacre. These final services were withdrawn in 1972, and the above-ground part was demolished. The Low Level platforms remained open.
In the 1970s, the Merseyrail network in Liverpool city centre was expanded considerably. A new loop line was built for Wirral Line trains, linking James Street station with Moorfields, Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Central and returning to James Street. A new deep-level underground platform was built at Liverpool Central as part of this. Meanwhile, the former CLC route was connected to the Mersey Railway platforms, and another new tunnel allowed trains to continue northwards via Moorfields to the lines from Liverpool Exchange, which was closed. This route became the Northern Line. The rebuilt station opened in 1977.
In the original 1970s plan, southbound trains would have continued to Warrington and Manchester; however, services terminated at Garston (but were later extended to Hunts Cross). At the same time, works to allow the Northern Line to be connected to the Victoria Tunnel were put in place, but were later abandoned. This would have allowed trains to operate to St Helens.
On 26 October 2005 a Wirral Line train derailed on the approach to Liverpool Central en route from Lime Street station. [1] There were no serious injuries; however, the design of the Liverpool Loop meant that all Wirral Line services through the Loop were suspended for the remainder of the week, terminating at James Street.
Other related archives1874, 1891, 1966, 1970s, 1972, 1977, 2005, 26 October, Birkenhead, Brunswick, Cheshire Lines Committee, Chester, England, Garston, Gateacre, Hamilton Square, Hooton, Hunts Cross, James Street, Kirkby, Liverpool, Liverpool Exchange, Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Loop, Manchester, Mersey Railway, Mersey Railway Tunnel, Merseyrail, Moorfields, New Brighton, Northern Line, Ormskirk, Southport, St Helens, Victoria Tunnel, Warrington, West Kirby, Wirral Line
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
