Liverpool to Wigan Line

The Liverpool to Wigan Line is a railway line in the north-west of England, running between Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan North Western via St Helens Central.

Description
The route from Liverpool, running east follows part of the Northern section of the Liverpool to Manchester line up to Huyton Junction; where it branches north-eastwards, routing via Prescot and St Helens Central, thence to Ince Moss Junction. Here, the line joins the West Coast Main Line near Springs Branch and runs on to Wigan North Western.

The route sees service from three passenger trains per hour (tph) in both directions between Liverpool and Wigan, usually operated by Northern Rail Class 142, Class 150, or Class 156 Diesel Multiple Units. The 3 tph frequency includes two local stopping services and one longer distance express. The longer distance service usually continues to onto Blackpool North and operates a limited stop service of Huyton, St Helens Central and Wigan in the Liverpool to Wigan leg of its journey. For local passenger transport, the route is branded as a significant section of one of Merseytravel's City Line routes.

Services


All services on this route are currently operated by Northern Rail using Class 142 Pacer, Class 150 Sprinter, or Class 156 Super Sprinter DMUs.

Monday to Saturday
Daytime hours of operation typically see 3 trains per hour each way between Liverpool and Wigan. The typical service pattern comprises:
 * Two all-stations stopping services, operating every 30 minutes between Liverpool and Wigan only, and
 * One hourly long-distance express service, originating at Liverpool South Parkway, operating via Liverpool Lime St, and continuing to Blackpool North.

The limited-stop service calls only at Liverpool Lime St, Huyton, St Helens Central and Wigan in the Liverpool to Wigan leg of its journey. The service then calls at Euxton Balshaw Lane, Leyland and Preston on the West Coast Main Line, Kirkham and Wesham on the Blackpool branch, terminating at Blackpool North. Some peak time trains additionally call at Poulton-le-Fylde before Blackpool.

Morning and evening peaks see an increase in service frequency, including some services originating or terminating at St Helens Central and some semi-fast services. First service departs Liverpool for Wigan at around 0530. The first train from St Helens leaves for Liverpool just before 0600, and Wigan's first departure for Liverpool is a little later at 0608. Last departures from Wigan and Liverpool vary depending on the day of the week and therefore a consultation of the current timetable is recommended prior to travel.

Sunday
An hourly stopping service operates on the route in both directions between Liverpool and Blackpool North calling at open stations en route.

As of late December 2013, Edge Hill, Eccleston Park and Bryn do not have a regularly scheduled Sunday service.

Route

 * Liverpool Lime Street, Western terminus, here it is possible to interchange onto services to the Wirral. On leaving Lime Street, the trains pass through the Lime Street tunnels.
 * Edge Hill, for inner city districts of Edge Hill, Kensington and Toxteth.
 * Edge Hill Junction, where services to Manchester via Warrington Central split off
 * Wavertree Technology Park, for Wavertree. Also, the express service to Manchester Airport
 * Broad Green, suburban station (for Broadgreen Hospital)
 * Roby, suburban station
 * Huyton for Huyton shopping centre and bus station. Also, change here for services to Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Victoria
 * Huyton Junction, where services towards Manchester Victoria and Warrington BQ split off
 * Prescot, suburban station
 * Eccleston Park, suburban station
 * Thatto Heath, suburban station
 * St Helens Central, for St Helens town centre, the World of Glass and the North-West Museum of Road Transport
 * Garswood, suburban station, also the last stop within Merseytravel's ticket zone
 * Bryn, suburban station (for Ashton-in-Makerfield)
 * Ince Moss Junction where the Liverpool to Wigan line joins the West Coast Main Line
 * Wigan North Western, Eastern Terminus, Change here for Intercity trains to Preston and points North, Warrington Bank Quay and points South and for regional express services to Blackpool North.

Track Distances
Network Rail's route NW 2023 runs for 20.7 km from Springs Branch Junction, Ince-in-Makerfield, to Huyton Junction, Huyton.

Signalling
The route is now fully colour-light signalled all the way from Huyton to Wigan, though two manual signal boxes remain at St Helens Central and Huyton. These share responsibility for most of the line, with the northern end controlled by Warrington PSB since the WCML was resignalled in 1973. All other manual boxes en-route have been abolished, along with the last few semaphore signals (those at Prescot survived until September 2012, along with the box there). Once the line is electrified in 2014, control will likely pass to the new WCML North Regional Operating Centre in Manchester.

Electrification


In early 2014, work on 25 kV, 50 Hz AC overhead line electrification continues and is concurrent with similar work being done between Earlestown and Bootle Branch Junction on the Liverpool - Manchester (Chat Moss) route. Bridgeworks are complete and a substantial number of electrification masts and bases are in place along the line between Huyton and Ince Moss Junctions, awaiting overhead line installation. Timetables are likely to be disrupted by engineering work and rail replacement bus transport, so subsequently may be revised more frequently.

Electrification is scheduled to be accomplished by December 2014.

In December 2009, the then Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, announced that the line between Huyton and St Helens Line Junctions will also be electrified along with the previously committed Edge Hill to Huyton Junction infill on the Liverpool to Manchester line, as part of a £200 million rail electrification scheme. It has not been clarified if the newly electrified line will be incorporated within Merseyrail, as was the 1973 plan.

The Liverpool to Wigan line was initially scheduled to be on the Merseyrail electric urban network. The Strategic Plan for the North West, the SPNW, in 1973 envisaged that the Outer Loop which was to be an orbital line circling the city of Liverpool,the Edge Hill Spur which is a tunnel connecting the east of Liverpool to the central underground sections, and the lines to St. Helens, Wigan and Warrington would be electrified and all integrated into Merseyrail by 1991. This meant that trains from Wigan theoretically could access West Kirby on the Wirral via Liverpool city centre's underground stations creating an east-west crossrail using the 1890 Liverpool Central to Liverpool James Street tunnel, which is currently used as a shunting tunnel.

This never transpired, even though tunnelling work had commenced on the Edge Hill Spur section. Wigan was not incorporated into the Merseyrail electric network, with the Wigan line remaining a diesel service and relegated to the Merseytravel diesel operated City Line, although branded as Merseyrail. However, the current electrification project will give fast electric train access from Wigan to Liverpool's high-level Lime Street railway station. If the mothballed Edge Hill Spur project is ever completed, trains from Wigan will access the stations in Liverpool city centre underground section.

Speculation rose that the current electrification project would be shelved under the coalition government that was elected in 2010. In October 2010, the coalition chancellor George Osborne, confirmed the project would be completed.

This work, in conjunction with the previously-announced Liverpool to Manchester line electrification would electrify the entire Liverpool to Wigan route. Additionally, considering currently-operated services; in conjunction with other infill electrification projects announced, this will allow electric trains to operate from Liverpool to St Helens, Wigan, Preston and Blackpool. Merseytravel (One of the two PTEs on the route) had previously stated their aspirations for the St Helens infill electrification; considering it a necessary addition to the (then-proposed) Liverpool to Manchester electrification, given the interworking of passenger services between the Chat Moss (Liverpool to Manchester) and St Helens (Liverpool to Wigan) lines imposed by the December 2008 timetable.

Additional track


Work has commenced to re-instate the four track layout which was originally in place between Huyton and Roby stations until the 1970s. This is part of the Electrification/Northern Hub improvement. It will provide passing tracks to allow for slow and fast traffic plus a remodelling of the Huyton Junction turnout towards Prescot in order to avoid substantial interaction with the Liverpool to Manchester line, which is presently the case. Accompanying platform construction and associated works are also being undertaken at both stations. Completion of the scheme was scheduled for 2014, but has had to be split into two stages - Three-Tracking should be in place by 2014, as it is entirely within the existing boundaries of railway land. The fourth track requires requisition of a strip of land 240 m long from the BT Telephone Exchange site together with part of Huyton Bus Station. Given the procedures of acquiring such property and construction, it currently seems unlikely that Four-Tracking will be in place before 2017

History
The section of line from St Helens to Wigan was opened on 1 December 1869 by the Lancashire Union Railway, and the line from Huyton to St Helens was opened on 1 November 1871 by the London and North Western Railway.

In latter years, the section from St.Helens towards Rainford (originally part of the St. Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway) terminated at the NSG Pilkington Cowley Hill works as its fuel oil storage depot - such traffic being only for that purpose. Equally, there is a similar oil depot spur to the south of St. Helens Central station serving the NSG Pilkington Watson Street site with fuel. However, in recent years, usage of these facilities appears to have become very infrequent, due to availability of alternative power sources, such as the on-site gas-fired Scottish Power generating station serving their Watson Street and Greengate plants

Correspondingly, the section from St. Helens Central (formerly St. Helens Shaw Street) to St. Helens Junction has also been discontinued plus a substantial amount of track and signalling lifted past Sutton Oak junction - particularly the point junction just west of St. Helens Junction station, where it formerly joined the Liverpool - Manchester main line, although Network Rail still regard the Central - Junction link as protected. Recently, however, there has been a number of projects put forward by local authorities and other political bodies in the North-West to have the St. Helens Central - to - St. Helens Junction link re-instated; not only to provide local intermediate stations, but it is generally thought that it would also provide a diversionary route in case of blockages on either the Liverpool-Wigan or Liverpool-Manchester lines. In addition a new station with a park-and-ride service at Carr Mill (between St. Helens and Garswood) is also proposed. These elements have been included in or presented to several Route Utilisation Strategies (RUS) for the area

The December 2008 timetable change
December 2008 is notable as it brought extensive changes to the Northern Rail timetable, to fit in with new increased-frequency services from Virgin Trains. Timings were altered on all services. Most Liverpool to Wigan daytime local stopping services had previously omitted Edge Hill, but all stopping services on the route now call there.

December 2008 also marked the withdrawal of two relatively infrequent but notable services on this line:
 * The long distance Express services used to run from Liverpool via St Helens Central and Wigan to either Morecambe, Blackpool North, and/or Barrow. Since December 2008, all Liverpool-Wigan line long distance services run to Blackpool only, necessitating a change at Wigan or Preston for the previously-served destinations.
 * A small number of commuter-timed trains used to run Liverpool via Wigan to Manchester. They provided a route from Liverpool via St Helens Central, Wigan, and Bolton to Manchester Victoria, though these were also withdrawn in the December 2008 timetable. Replicating this journey now necessitates a change at Wigan NW, usually involving a walk to nearby Wigan Wallgate.