|
Southport railway station serves the town of Southport, Merseyside, England. It is at the end of the Southport branch of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network, and at the end of the Manchester-Southport Line. It is the fourth busiest station on the Merseyrail network. The station and services to Liverpool and Hunts Cross are run by Merseyrail, and Manchester services are operated by Northern Rail. ==History== The Liverpool line was originally built in 1848 by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway to a temporary station at Eastbank Street, about half a mile short of the current terminus. The current station opened as Southport Chapel Street on 22 August 1851, and became the terminus for all trains in 1857, when passenger services were transferred from the adjacent .〔Gell, Rob (1986). ''An Illustrated Survey of Railway Stations Between Southport & Liverpool 1848-1986''. Heyday Publishing Company, ISBN 0-947562-04-4.〕 From 1882 the West Lancashire Railway to Preston Fishergate Hill operated from Southport Derby Road (later known as Southport Central) outside Chapel Street Station. In 1884, another line from Southport to Liverpool was opened: the Cheshire Lines Committee's (CLC) North Liverpool Extension Line from Liverpool Central to Southport Lord Street. The West Lancashire Railway sponsored the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway to provide a connection to the CLC line, joining it at . These lines ultimately proved uncompetitive, however, and the Southport services were withdrawn in January 1952.〔Marshall, J (1981). ''Forgotten Railways: North West England''. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p 80〕 In July 1897, both the West Lancashire and the Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railways were absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y). The L&Y had a large terminus at Southport Chapel Street and could see no sense in operating two termini at very close proximity. On 1 May 1901 the L&Y completed a remodelling of the approach lines to Southport Central to allow trains to divert onto the Manchester to Southport line and into Southport Chapel Street Station. Southport Central was closed to passengers and it became a goods depot eventually amalgamating with Chapel Street depot.〔(Disused Stations - Southport Central )''Disused Stations''; Retrieved 2013-11-18〕 It survived intact well into the 1970s. The Preston line was closed to passengers on 7 September 1964,〔Marshall, J (1981). ''Forgotten Railways: North West England''. David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6; p.152〕 although a small section to Hesketh Park station was used for freight until 1967. This line had its electric local services to Crossens and its through steam services withdrawn on consecutive days immediately before the official closure date - the only such route to suffer that fate during the Beeching-era closures. Nowadays, the towns of Southport and Preston are linked only by the (largely dual-carriageway) A565 and A59 roads. At its largest, Chapel Street station had eleven regular platforms and two excursion platforms. Now six truncated platforms are in use (platforms 1-3 for Liverpool trains & 4-6 for Manchester), the rest having been demolished and the land used for car parking. In the 1970s the former terminal building was replaced with a shopping centre. Platform 7 was originally going to be saved and used as an excursion platform for when mainline specials were to visit the resort but this failed and it too was demolished along with platforms 8, 9 & 10. Remains of the signal box, carriage & wagon works & sub station are still visible today. The sidings next to the former South Curve still remain today but are not much used except for if a unit or engine needs turning. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Southport railway station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|