Build it! Merseyrail

Liverpool Lime Street is the major terminus of Merseyrail with the City Line starting and ending here, as well as a stop on the Wirral Line as part of the James Street, Moorfields, Lime Street and Central loop. ALAMY

The origins of the current Merseyrail system can be traced to the Mersey Railway, which opened in 1886 between Green Lane station in Birkenhead to Liverpool James Street. Key to the system was the tunnel under the River Mersey. Between 1886 and 1891, the route was extended to Liverpool Central and to the Wirral Railway, as well as a branch that connected with the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line.

It’s a sad fact that the Mersey Railway’s story is not as well known as that of other contemporary companies but it has been the source of several key milestones in British railway history. Most notable is the fact that it was electrified in 1903, becoming the world’s first example of full electrification of a steam railway, pre-dating electrification of parts of the Metropolitan Railway in London by two years.

Had it not been for the people of Merseyside, the Mersey Railway may well have closed at the hands of Dr Beeching as he recommended that only Liverpool Lime Street should remain open and suburban commuter services be halted. This would have left a lot of people with transport difficulties and Liverpool City Council proposed a rapid transit network to replace the lost services. The Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority, later named Merseytravel, was formed in 1969 with representatives from all Merseyside local authorities taking responsibility for the rail lines identified to be incorporated into the new network, to be known as ‘Merseyrail’. At that time, the lines out of Liverpool Exchange, Liverpool Central Low & High Levels and Liverpool Lime Street stations were completely separate.

Today, Merseyrail is a franchise, operated by Serco-abellio. It comprises three key routes – the Northern Line, the Wirral Line and the City Line – that Southport in the north to Chester in the south with central Liverpool. And, unlike other British metro systems, it’s maintained by Network Rail.

ALAMY Above: Birkenhead North TMD was the base for Merseyrail’s four Class 73s. The three and fourroad sheds now house Merseyrail class 507 and 508 EMUS, which are due to be replaced by new Class 777s being built by Swiss firm Stadler.

J.D. CABLE/COLOUR RAIL Below: The departmental duties for the Class 73s took them across the Merseyrail network. Here, 73006 waits at Hall Road depot north of Crosby for its next duty.

ALAMY Left: Six and a half miles of the Merseyrail network is below ground. In fact, the route of the original Mersey Railway is the world’s oldest underground railway outside London.