St Helens Central railway station

History

The station was originally opened by the St Helens Canal and Railway as St Helens on 1 February 1858 to replace two earlier nearby 1833 and 1849 stations. The original 1833 route from Widnes Dock through the town (along with the branch from St Helens Junction) and onwards to Rainford Junction (opened along with the station in 1858) was joined a decade later by the Lancashire Union Railway to Wigan North Western and Blackburn in December 1869, whilst the route southwestwards to Huyton was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1871. It was renamed St Helens Shaw Street in 1949.

The station was completely rebuilt in 1961 to a design by the architect William Robert Headley which included and advertised a significant amount of the local Pilkington Glass. By this time, the original St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway routes had both closed to passenger traffic, services having ceased on 18 June 1951. The short branch to St Helens Junction suffered the same fate in June 1965 as a result of the Beeching Axe, though freight traffic would continue to operate on both lines until the 1980s.

It then became St Helens Central in 1987 (the original GCR St Helens Central station situated on Corporation Street having been completely closed in 1952 and demolished in the late 1960s). Two years later the through link to St Helens Junction was severed, though the section as far as the Hays Chemicals plant at Sutton Oak remained open until 2002 (the track remains in place but out of use to the present day). This left only the Liverpool to Wigan line in operation, along with a short section of the old Rainford line serving the Pilkington Glass factory at Cowley Hill (near Gerards Bridge) though this has also been disused for several years.

An accident occurred on 11 November 1988, when a train from Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street became derailed after it departed from St Helens Central at 23:15. Leaving the station, the driving cab struck a bridge abutment; the driver was killed and 16 passengers received minor injuries.

In 2005, Merseytravel and Network Rail invited tenders for the reconstruction of the station, including a new station building, footbridge and lifts. The new station building and facilities were assembled just a few yards from the 1960s station building and is the third build on the same site. The project came in at a total estimated cost of £6 million, with the European Union contributing £1.7 million towards the total funding. The new footbridge was lifted into place in the early hours of 22 January 2007. Construction work was completed in the summer, with the new waiting rooms and footbridge opened to passengers on 19 September. The new station building was officially opened on 3 December 2007.

Electrification

Overhead electrification of the Liverpool to Wigan line originally due to be finished in December 2014, has now been completed. Earlier, modifications to the adjacent bridgeworks were undertaken in 2012 and during 2014 electrification masts and new signals were installed, overhead wiring taking place in early 2015. Northern Rail, the then train operating company, announced the introduction of electric services on the line from the commencement of the new timetable changeover on 17 May 2015 and the Liverpool to Wigan service is now operated by 4-Car Class 319 electric units. As Preston to Blackpool electrification is not yet in place, the Liverpool to Blackpool North service continued to be operated using diesel units; however, from October 2015 the Liverpool to Blackpool service was replaced by a Liverpool to Preston service using Class 319 electrics, which entails passengers travelling onwards to Blackpool to change at Preston, except on Sundays. Under normal circumstances, therefore, St Helens has an all-electric service from Mondays to Saturdays. However, on Sundays an hourly stopping service operates in both directions between Liverpool and Blackpool North via Preston calling at open stations en route. In order to cover the whole route the service is operated by diesel units.

Station Information

Penalty fares do not apply at this station. The station is open and staffed from 05:45 to 23:50 (08:00 on Sundays).

The booking office is open 05:50 to 20:40 Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 22:00 on Sundays. Advanced, season, general ticket enquires and sales can be made. A ticket vending machine is provided next to the booking office. Disabled access is facilitated by lifts on both platforms.

Car parking (including disabled bays) is available and is free for rail users, provided a parking ticket for the vehicle is obtained from the ticket office first. Re-charging facilities have recently been provided for electrically-powered vehicles.

Cold drink and snack vending machines are provided in the waiting room on the Wigan-bound platform. In March 2012, a dedicated coffee shop serving hot and cold food was opened upstairs in the main station building but closed in September 2012, the franchise remaining vacant up to the present.

Services

During Monday to Saturday daytimes, there is a half-hourly local service between Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan North Western, and an hourly fast service from Liverpool South Parkway which continues beyond Wigan to Preston.

On Sundays, there is an hourly semi-fast service between Liverpool and Blackpool North via Preston.