Locale Cheshire
Merseyside | ||
 | ||
Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
The Birkenhead Railway was formed on 1 August 1859 as a result of the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway merging with the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. The new company was originally called the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway, but in 1859 shortened its name to The Birkenhead Railway. It was taken over, on 1 January 1860, by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Great Western Railway (GWR), becoming a joint railway. It remained a Joint Railway until Nationalisation of the railways in 1948.
Contents
Part of the railway is now known as the Wirral Line, one of the two urban electric commuter lines operated by Merseyrail on Merseyside.
Routes
The original main routes were those created by the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway's Chester Loop and the main line from Chester to a junction with the London and North Western Railway at Walton Junction, near Warrington; and the Chester and Birkenhead Railway's main line from Chester to Birkenhead. Further branches were created:
Sutton Tunnel
The Sutton Tunnel was the scene of a train crash in 1851 on the day of the Chester Cup. An overcrowded train was unable to make progress through the tunnel and had to be pushed by a following train. As both trains were in the tunnel making very slow progress, a third train entered the tunnel at full speed, unaware of the slow progress of the two trains already in the tunnel. More than fifty people were injured, with nine deaths. An inquest was held in the Red Lion pub in Preston Brook, with a verdict of "Accidental Death", though "great blame" was placed on the Executive Committee of the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway Company, while officers and servants of the company were criticised for "want of prudence and discretion".
Currently working
The lines between Birkenhead and Chester, and from Hooton to Ellesmere Port (on the Helsby branch) now form part of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. The section of line from Ellesmere Port to Warrington is now run as a parliamentary train operated by Northern. The Chester to Helsby section is operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of their Llandudno to Manchester Piccadilly service.
Closed section
The branch from Hooton to West Kirby was closed to passengers in 1956 and to freight traffic in 1962; the track bed of this route is now the Wirral Way, a footpath forming part of the Wirral Country Park.