Borderlands Line

Borderlands Line

Principal stations (from south to north) Wrexham Central Wrexham General for Shrewsbury to Chester Line Gwersyllt Cefn-y-Bedd Caergwrle Hope Penyffordd Buckley Hawarden Shotton for North Wales Coast Line Hawarden Bridge Neston Heswall Upton Bidston for Wirral Line

Diagram map of Borderlands Line interconnections and stations

The Borderlands Line is the name given to the services operating over the railway line between Wrexham, Wales, and Bidston, Wirral, England.

The southern part of the line was built by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR). The northern part of the line was built by the North Wales and Liverpool Railway, a joint committee between the WMCQR and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Both Railways were acquired by the Great Central Railway on 1 January 1905.

Current passenger services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales, between Wrexham Central and Bidston stations. Trains run every 60 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 2hrs after 18:45 and on Sundays. Connections can be made with other National Rail services at Bidston (for Merseyrail services to West Kirby, Birkenhead and Liverpool), Shotton (for Chester and the North Wales Coast Line) and Wrexham General (for the Shrewsbury-Chester Line). Arriva Trains Wales operate the service using Class 153s, but more recently (October 2006), they have been using Class 150s or doubling up on the Class 153s. Even more recently (Late December 2006), the Class 153s have dsissappeared in favour of Class 150s.

Various proposals exist to electrify some or all of the Borderlands Line and incorporate it into the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network, allowing through services to Birkenhead and Liverpool and the possible introductions of three new stations at Deeside Industrial Park, Woodchurch and Beechwood however nothing definitive has been confirmed, only plans. In August 2006, it was announced there would be a feasibility study into the electrification of the line.

Route

The towns and villages served by the line are listed below.

• Wrexham Central
• Wrexham General
• Gwersyllt
• Cefn-y-Bedd
• Caergwrle
• Hope
• Penyffordd
• Buckley
• Hawarden
• Shotton
• Hawarden Bridge
• Neston
• Heswall
• Upton
• Bidston

External links

• Wrexham-Birkenhead Rail Users' Association
• The Wrexham-Bidston Line
• PDF detailing possible addition to Wirral Line services (Page 33)

Railway lines in Wales:
Main lines:	Gloucester-Newport Line   North Wales Coast Line   Shrewsbury-Chester Line   South Wales Main Line   Welsh Marches Line
Valley lines:		Butetown Branch		City Line		Coryton Line		Ebbw Valley Line		Maesteg Line
		Merthyr Line		Rhondda Line		Rhymney Line		Vale of Glamorgan Line
Rural lines:	Borderlands Line   Cambrian Line   Conwy Valley Line   Heart of Wales Line   West Wales Line

Railway lines in Northern England:
Main lines:	Cross-Country Route   East Coast Main Line   Midland Main Line   West Coast Main Line  Chester-Manchester Line    Hope Valley Line   Liverpool-Manchester Line    Manchester-Preston Line   Settle-Carlisle Railway
Commuter lines:	Airedale Line Blackburn-Bolton Line   Caldervale Line   Mid-Cheshire Line   Dearne Valley Line    East Lancashire Line   Glossop Line   Hallam Line   Harrogate Line   Huddersfield Line Kirkby Branch Line    Lancaster-Heysham Line   Leeds-Bradford Lines   Liverpool-Wigan Line    Manchester Airport Line    Manchester-Southport Line   Northern Line   Oldham Loop Line   Northallerton-Eaglescliffe Line    Ormskirk Branch Line   Pontefract Line   Sheffield-Hull Line   Sheffield-Lincoln Line   Stockport-Stalybridge Line    Wakefield Line   Wharfedale Line   Wirral Line   York & Selby Lines  York-Scarborough Line
Rural lines:	Barton Line   Borderlands Line   Buxton Line   Cumbrian Coast Line   Doncaster-Lincoln Line    Durham Coast Line   Esk Valley Line   Tees Valley Line   Furness Line   Hull-York Line     Oxenholme-Windermere Line   Penistone Line   Ribble Valley Line   Newcastle and Carlisle Railway    Yorkshire Coast Line