North Mersey Branch

The North Mersey Branch(NMB) is a railway line that connected the Liverpool and Bury Railway at Fazakerley Junction with the Gladstone Dock. It was opened in 1867 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The junction with the Liverpool Overhead Railway was also between North Mersey Branch Junction and Gladstone Dock.

Aintree Racecourse station opened around 1890 as the only station on the line and saw its last service on 31 March 1962. It only operated on race days at Aintree Racecourse. Gladstone Dock station opened on 7 September 1914, when the section of track from North Mersey Branch Junction was electrified, and closed on 7 July 1924. Two more stations on the line opened on 1 June 1906 with the electrification of the line; these closed on 2 April 1951.

The section of the line between Sefton Junction and North Mersey Branch Junction still exist but has no services and is no longer electrified. Plans to open this section as part of Merseyrail's Northern Line have been put forward in Sefton's transport plan.

Route

• Fazakerley Junction with Liverpool and Bury Railway.
• Aintree Racecourse railway station[1].
• Sefton Junction with Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway.
• Ford (Sefton) railway station[2].
• Linacre Road railway station[3].
• North Mersey Branch Junction with Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway.
• North Mersey Branch Junction with Liverpool Overhead Railway.
• Gladstone Dock railway station[4].
• Gladstone Dock/North Mersey goods.

External links

• Historic map of railways in Liverpool
• Potential Rail Improvements in North Western England - Evidence presented to the Transport Select Committee, 2002-03