Liverpool to Wigan Line

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

Route

From Liverpool Lime Street, the line follows the northern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Line (the former Liverpool and Manchester Railway), as far as Huyton where the two lines diverge. The Liverpool-Wigan line then runs via St Helens Central before joining the West Coast Main Line south of Wigan, and follows it as far as Wigan North Western.

This itinerary is composed of all or part of the following Network Rail routes:

• NW 2001 from Liverpool Lime Street
• NW 2015 from Edge Hill Signal Box
• NW 2023 from Huyton Junction
• NW 1001 from Springs Branch Junction to Wigan North Western

Services

Northern Rail operates all services on the line. During Monday to Saturday daytime, there is a train every 30 minutes, calling at all stations except Edge Hill. There is also an hourly fast train, which calls only at Liverpool Lime Street, Huyton, St Helens Central and Wigan North Western, which continues via the West Coast Main Line to Preston and usually to Blackpool North (or occasionally to Morecambe or Barrow-in-Furness). There are extra fast trains during the morning and evening peak periods. On Sundays, there are hourly semi-fast trains from Liverpool to Wigan, many of which continue to Blackpool.

History

The section of line from St Helens to Wigan opened in 1869 and the line from Huyton to St Helens was opened 1 November 1871; both were built by the London and North Western Railway.

External link

• http://newton-le-willows.com : A Brief History of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

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