Bidston railway station

Coordinates: 53°24′32″N 3°04′44″W / 53.409°N 3.079°W / 53.409; -3.079
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bidston
Merseytravel
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBID
Fare zoneB1
ClassificationDfT category E
Key dates
2 July 1866Opened[1]
4 July 1870Closed[1]
1 August 1872Reopened[1]
June 1890Closed[1]
18 May 1896Reopened as a junction[1]
1938Electrified
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.344 million
 Interchange Increase 109,969
2019/20Increase 0.399 million
 Interchange Increase 110,456
2020/21Decrease 0.109 million
 Interchange Decrease 19,027
2021/22Increase 0.237 million
 Interchange Increase 68,227
2022/23Increase 0.271 million
 Interchange Increase 76,964
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Bidston on the Wirral Line

Bidston railway station serves the village of Bidston, Merseyside, England. The station is situated at a junction of the West Kirby branch of the Wirral line, which is part of the Merseyrail network; it also serves as the northern terminus for the Borderlands line from Wrexham Central, with services operated by Transport for Wales.

History

Bidston station has for most of its existence been primarily an interchange point between trains. The station is relatively isolated except for nearby Bidston Village, and was accessed only by foot. Until 1970, the approach road to the station was an unpaved track. Because of its isolation when a through station, the station closed twice due to poor passenger usage. Today there is an adjacent car park at the station with access to the nearby Junction One retail park via a lane. The station's prime function as an interchange still remains today.

The station was originally built by the Hoylake Railway, opening on 2 July 1866 as an intermediate through station on their line from Birkenhead Dock to the east to Hoylake to the west. The Birkenhead Dock terminus was a tramway railway interchange station, with onward journeys to Birkenhead Woodside ferry by horse drawn street trams of the Wirral Tramway. The station first closed on 4 July 1870, reopening on 1 August 1872.[1] In 1878 the Hoylake Railway line was extended to West Kirby on the River Dee coast to the west. In 1888 the line was extended to Birkenhead Park station. Birkenhead Park was an interchange station to Liverpool via the Mersey Railway. The old tramway interchange terminus at Birkenhead Dock station was converted to a goods station.[2]

The station was again closed in June 1890 due to low passenger numbers.[1] The station was permanently reopened on 18 May 1896 as the northern terminus of the new North Wales and Liverpool Railway. The southern terminus was at Hawarden Bridge, which joined onto the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway line to Wrexham Central.[1] In 1898 Bidston ceased to be a terminus station with the line extended to Seacombe in Wallasey. Bidston became a passenger interchange station.[3]

Through trains to

Borderlands Line in October 1978[5]
and this remains the situation today.

The section of curve between Bidston West and North Junctions, on the wye to the east of the station, was severed on 28 November 1983. This removed the direct route to New Brighton for passengers, and Bidston Dock for freight.[1]

Signal boxes

Bidston had four signal boxes in 1899.[6] These signal boxes were situated alongside the Dee, West, East and North junctions. The nearest to the station was the Bidston Dee Junction box.[6] The second Dee Junction signal box was built in the 1930s by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and was much larger than the earlier signal box which had been built by the Wirral Railway.[7] This signal box had a 65-lever frame and also took over the operation of Bidston North Junction, when built.[7] Bidston Dee Junction signal box was closed on 17 September 1994,[8] and demolished two months later on 20 November.[7]

Engine shed and freight use

The station in 1961, facing towards Leasowe. The lines to the sidings and engine shed are in front of the signals to the left. Bidston Dee Junction signal box is behind the platform.

Bidston station had a nearby

steelworks in Shotton.[9] The engine shed closed on 11 February 1963, along with transfer of its allocation of locomotives to Birkenhead Mollington Street depot.[10] The shed remained intact for several years after closure.[10]

Several sidings were situated adjacent to the eastern side of the station, south of the running lines.[1][6][11] These sidings had been built prior to 1899,[6] and were removed after goods traffic ended on 29 July 1968.[12] A Tesco supermarket now occupies the site of these sidings.

The station was the nearest to the former Bidston Dock. The adjacent Bidston East Junction gives access to the former Birkenhead Dock Branch line, but this has been disused by freight workings since the mid-1980s and is still so at present.[13]

Facilities

The station has a booking office, shelter and toilet facilities.[14] Each side of the island platform can receive six carriages.[15] The station is staffed at all times during opening hours, and has platform CCTV. Each platform has open-air seating. There is a payphone, next to the ticket office, on platform 1.[16] The station provides a "Park and Ride" service. There are a further 198 car parking spaces,[17] which are free to use for travellers, with lighting columns and CCTV to meet Merseytravel's Travelsafe requirements. Construction of the new car park was completed in 2010. There is no access to the platform for passengers with wheelchairs or prams, as access is by staircase only. On 3 August 2015, a new Bike & Go shelter opened at the station.[18] This provides secure cycle storage for 28 cycles.[14]

Services

An Arriva Trains Wales service, waiting to depart to Wrexham General on platform 2.

Currently, services run every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime) to West Kirby & Liverpool,[19] and every hour to Wrexham. Services to and from Wrexham usually terminate/start from platform 2, which is also used by West Kirby trains. Liverpool-bound trains use platform 1.

During the evenings, trains operate every 30 minutes to West Kirby & Liverpool and every two hours to Wrexham (all day on Bank Holidays), with a service approximately every 90 minutes on Sundays.[20]

Merseyrail services are provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 777 EMUs. Services to Wrexham are usually provided by a Transport for Wales Class 197 or Class 230 DMU.[21]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Leasowe
towards West Kirby 		 
Wirral Line

West Kirby Branch 		  Birkenhead North
towards Liverpool Central
Upton  
Borderlands Line
   Terminus
Disused railways
Liscard and Poulton   Wirral Railway
Seacombe Branch 		  Terminus

Future

Proposals have been made to electrify some or all of the Borderlands Line and possibly incorporate it into the Wirral Line services, but no commitment has been made.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mitchell & Smith 2013, map XXXIII
  2. ^ "Station Name: Birkenhead Dock". Disused Stations. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Station Name: Seacombe". Disused Stations. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  4. ^ Boumphrey & Boumphrey 1994, p. 58
  5. ^ a b "Disused Stations - Railways around Bidston". Disused Stations. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e Maund 2009, p. 49
  7. ^ a b c Maund 2009, p. 225
  8. ^ Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 98
  9. ^ a b c Pearce 2011, p. 125
  10. ^ a b Pearce 2011, p. 127
  11. ^ "44897 Bidston Stn. 19.7.67". Flickr. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  12. ^ Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 100
  13. ^ Baker 2001, p. 59
  14. ^ a b "Bidston train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  15. ^ Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 102
  16. ^ Station Facilities for Bidston Accessed 2013-12-17
  17. ^ Bidston train station facilities, Merseyrail Accessed 2013-12-18
  18. ^ New Bike & Go Shelter
  19. ^ "Wirral Line timetable 15 May - 1 October 2016" (PDF). Merseyrail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  20. ^ GB National Rail Timetable 2016, Table 101
  21. ^ https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:BID
  22. ^ Written Answer from Transport Minister Tom Harris to Wirral South MP Ben Chapman, 2007-03-02 Accessed 2008-10-15

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bidston railway station.

53°24′32″N 3°04′44″W / 53.409°N 3.079°W / 53.409; -3.079

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bidston_railway_station&oldid=1208991722"