Birkdale Palace railway station

Birkdale Palace
Remains of the station in 1964
General information
Location	Birkdale, Sefton England
Coordinates	53.6388°N 3.0269°W / 53.6388; -3.0269
Grid reference	SD322163
Platforms	2 (island)
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Key dates
1 September 1884	Station opened
1 January 1917	Station closed
1 April 1919	Station reopened
7 January 1952	Station closed to passengers
7 July 1952	Station closed completely

Cheshire Lines Committee
Merseyside Lines
Southport Lord Street Birkdale Palace to Southport Ainsdale Ainsdale Beach Northern line Woodvale Freshfield to Liverpool Central Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway Barton Mossbridge Hillhouse Junction Altcar and Hillhouse Lydiate Sefton and Maghull to Ormskirk Old Roan Aintree Junction Southport Junction Aintree Central Aintree Northern line Warbreck Orrell Park Walton to Kirkby Rice Lane to Liverpool Central Fazakerley Junctions Walton on the Hill Huskisson Clubmoor West Derby Knotty Ash & Stanley Broad Green City Line Childwall Gateacre Northern line Liverpool Central Liverpool Central High Level St James Brunswick (original) Egerton Street Junction Brunswick St Michaels Otterspool Aigburth Cressington to Lime Street Garston Liverpool South Parkway Hunts Cross West Junction Hunts Cross to Manchester Central

Birkdale Palace railway station was located in Birkdale, Lancashire, England. The station was opened by the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway in 1884 and closed in 1952.

History

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened Birkdale Palace on 1 September 1884 as an intermediate station on the line from Southport Lord Street railway station. The station was located next to the Birkdale Palace Hotel (now closed and demolished) and was positioned between Palace Road and Weld Road.

It had an island platform, accessible via the Weld Road bridge. The station first closed on 1 January 1917, along with all other stations on the extension line, as part of a World War I economy measure.

The station reopened on 1 April 1919 and remained in use until 7 January 1952, when the SCLER ceased passenger services between Aintree Central and Southport Lord Street. The line remained open for goods traffic at Southport Lord Street, Birkdale Palace, and Altcar & Hillhouse stations until 7 July 1952. Public goods facilities were also closed at Woodvale, Lydiate, and Sefton & Maghull stations on the same date. No goods facilities were provided at Ainsdale Beach station. After 7 July 1952, a siding at Altcar & Hillhouse remained open for private goods traffic until May 1960. The last passenger train to run on the SCLER was a railway enthusiast ‘special’ between Aintree and Altcar & Hillhouse on 6 June 1959.

Note: Regarding the closure dates of railway stations or lines, the official date of closure is typically given as the Monday following the last train service. As the closure date of Monday, 7 January 1952, was a Saturday, the actual last day of services was Saturday, 5 January 1952. This is confirmed by last-day tickets bearing the 5 January date.

After closure

Later, the route was converted into Coastal Road, which runs from Woodvale to Southport. At the site of the former Birkdale Palace station, the road now runs west of the original trackbed.

References

Sources

• Bolger, Paul (1984). An Illustrated History of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Merseyside: Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN 0-947562-00-1.

Further reading

• Encyclopedia of British Railway Companies, Christopher Awdry, 1990, Guild Publishing, CN 8983.

External links

• The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
• The station's history via Disused Stations UK
• Special trains via sixbellsjunction
• The station and line via railwaycodes

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Ainsdale Beach		Cheshire Lines Committee SCLER		Southport Lord Street