Place Meols Station code MEO DfT category E Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference SJ233897 Managed by Merseyrail 2011/12 0.618 million Pte Merseytravel | |
Address Meols, Wirral, United Kingdom Similar Moreton (Merseyside) railway st, Leasowe railway station, Bebington railway station, Spital railway station, Rock Ferry railway station | ||
Meols railway station is situated in Meols, Wirral, England. It lies on the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network.
Contents
History
Meols was one of the original stations on the Hoylake Railway, opening in 1866. The Hoylake Railway became part of the Wirral Railway in 1883, which subsequently became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Through services to Liverpool began in 1938, when the line was electrified. The station was rebuilt to coincide with this.
In 1934 the signal box was closed and semaphore Intermediate Block Signals, controlled from Moreton and Hoylake boxes, were introduced, the only such signals on the Liverpool to West Kirby line. They broke the otherwise long distance between Moreton and Hoylake, the two signal boxes on either side. These semaphore signals remained until 1994 when the line was resignalled with colour-light signals. The station had recently completed a refurbishment with work involving new glazing to the footbridge windows and staircase, redevelopment of existing buildings to provide enclosed passenger waiting shelters, a new passenger toilet and automatic entrance doors to the booking hall.
Facilities
The station is staffed, 15 minutes before the first train and 15 minutes after the last train, and has platform CCTV. Each of the two platforms has a waiting room. There is a payphone, vending machine, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. The station has a free car park, with 62 spaces, as well as a 12-space cycle rack and secure indoor storage for 16 cycles. There is step-free access available only for the Liverpool-bound platform, for wheelchairs and prams.
In December 2014, it was announced that a lift would be installed at Meols station allowing access to both platforms. The lift was initially expected to be installed in 2016 though Network Rail currently expect the works to be completed by 2019 at the latest.
Services
Current services are every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime) to West Kirby and Liverpool. At other times, trains operate every 30 minutes. These services are provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.