City Line (Merseyrail)
The City Line is the name given to local rail routes out of Liverpool Lime Street station, Liverpool, Merseyside. It appears on maps of the Merseyrail network as red, and covers the Liverpool-Wigan Line as well as the two routes of the Liverpool-Manchester Line. Although it is branded under the Merseyrail name, the routes are operated by Northern Rail on behalf of Merseytravel.
History
The City Line can trace its origins back to the dawn of the railway era, as it incorporates most of the route of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830. The City Line's Edge Hill station, opened on its present site in 1836, is the oldest working passenger railway station in the world. Other early railway companies whose lines are now part of the City Line include the Cheshire Lines Committee and the London & North Western Railway.
These disparate local railway services were not marketed under a common name until 1972, when Merseyside PTE introduced the Merseyrail brand for services which were operated by British Rail on its behalf. The PTE applied the City Line name to local services out of Liverpool's main station at Lime Street.
Around this time, ambitious plans were floated to electrify parts of the City Line and incorporate it into the Northern Line, via a tunnel from Edge Hill to Liverpool Central. However, these have not come to fruition as of 2006.
In the 1990s, as part of the Government's rail privatisation, the City Line services became part of the North Western Trains franchise (later taken over by First Group and renamed First North Western). Merseytravel continue to use the City Line name and stations retain the Merseyrail branding and familiar M logo.
In 2004, the First North Western franchise was merged with that of neighbouring train company Arriva Trains Northern to create a new franchise covering the north of England. The new franchise was won by Northern Rail, owned by the Serco-NedRailways consortium (who, coincidentally, had been named as the operators of the Merseyrail Electrics franchise a year earlier).
Description
The City Line differs from the Northern Line and Wirral Line in that many of the routes are shared with inter-city express services. The lines which make up the City Line are:
- Liverpool to Wigan Line (and onward to Preston via the West Coast Main Line)
- Liverpool to Manchester Lines (Northern and Southern Routes, including the branch to Warrington Bank Quay)
Some City Line services continue beyond the confines of the above routes. For example, many Preston services continue to Blackpool or Lancaster, while Manchester Victoria services go on to Stalybridge.
Other lines out of Lime Street are not generally considered part of the City Line. However, sometimes the distinction is unclear. For example, Merseytravel publicity for Liverpool South Parkway referred to the Central Trains service from Liverpool to Crewe and Birmingham New Street as if it were part of the City Line. The City Line timetable booklets also show other services where they share tracks with City Line trains (for example, the Chester to Manchester services via Newton-le-Willows and Warrington Bank Quay).
Services
Monday to Saturday daytimes, most stations are served by a train every half-hour on core sections of route. Some smaller stations are served only by one train per hour. Services are less frequent in the evenings.
Long-distance express services provided by other operators provide additional trains to some City Line stations.
On Sundays Edge Hill, Eccleston Park and Bryn stations are closed and a basic hourly frequency operates on all lines.
Connections
Transfer to the Northern Line is possible at Liverpool South Parkway or Hunts Cross, for services to Southport. No direct connections to the branches to Kirkby and Ormskirk are available; passengers must board Southport-bound trains and alight at Sandhills.
Interchange with the Wirral Line is possible at Liverpool Lime Street. Passengers wishing to transfer to the Northern Line can take a Wirral line service to Liverpool Central (although given the short distance between the two stations, many prefer to walk).
Connections to long distance services is possible at Wigan North Western, Earlestown or Manchester Oxford Road.
Rolling Stock
There are 17 Class 142 Pacer units painted in the PTE's yellow livery for use on City Line services. However, they are not dedicated to Merseyside operations and can often be seen working on other Northern Rail services outside the Merseyside area. Conversely, 142s in other liveries can frequently be seen working Lime Street services.
Some longer-distance City Line services are diagrammed for Class 150 or Class 156 Sprinter units.
Future
Merseytravel have aspirations to electrify much of the City Line with 25kV overhead. The only section of City Line route currently electrified is between Lime Street and Liverpool South Parkway (for use by Virgin and Central EMUs). However, as of 2006 no firm plans for electrification have been made.
A proposal exists to reopen the Canada Dock Branch to passenger services. This would provide a connection from Edge Hill to Northern Line services at Bootle Oriel Road.
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