Birkdale railway station

For the railway station in Australia, see Birkdale railway station, Brisbane.

For the closed railway station in Birkdale, Merseyside, see Birkdale Palace railway station.

Birkdale Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Sefton
Managed by	Merseyrail
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BDL
Fare zone	D1
Key dates
31 July 1848	Opened 56 chains (1.1 km) nearer Liverpool
1851	Replaced on present site as "Birkdale Park"
Before 1910	Renamed "Birkdale"

Birkdale railway station serves the Birkdale suburb of Southport, England. The station is located on the Southport branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line.

History

The first Birkdale station opened on the then new, single track Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. This station was located at "Old Gilbert's", over half a mile nearer Liverpool than the present station. The line was subsequently developed rapidly, being doubled and completed through to Liverpool. In 1851 this station was replaced by a wholly new, two platform station called "Birkdale Park" which formed the basis of the present day station. By 1910 it had been renamed plain "Birkdale". Both the later station and the original station building at what had evolved to be mapped as "Gilbert's Crossing" can be seen on the Edwardian OS 6" map. The old station building was not demolished until 1965. By 2012 Gilbert's Crossing was completely obliterated by housing. It was just south of the junction of Dunkirk and Dover roads.

The line became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855. who took over from the (LCSR). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948 and in 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatisation in 1995).

The signal box adjacent to the station, built in 1905, is a Grade II listed building. Birkdale is the only station on the line that still has a signal box.

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday and on summer Sundays to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Winter Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.

Gallery

• 
  The Liverpool-bound platform.
• 
  Looking north, along the Liverpool-bound platform.
• 
  The disused signal box.
• 
  Birkdale Station entrance, in 1964.

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Bradshaw, George (1968) [1910]. Bradshaw's Railway Guide: April 1910. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4246-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harrop, Sylvia (1985). Old Birkdale and Ainsdale: Life on the South West Lancashire coast 1600-1851. Birkdale, Southport: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 0-9510905-0-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Train times and station information for Birkdale railway station from National Rail
• Station information for Birkdale railway station from Merseyrail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Southport terminus		Merseyrail Northern Line		Hillside towards Hunts Cross