St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway
St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway was an early railway company that acted as a feeder to the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It opened 21 February 1833. In 1845 it became the St Helens Canal and Railway when it amalgamated with the Sankey Brook Navigation.
The railway ran from St. Helens to Widnes railway station with passenger stations including Sutton Oak, Farnworth and Bold and Clock Face being served. The railway was mainly used for freight including the many collieries around St. Helens but was popular for passengers who could use the line for connecting to trains travelling through the North West.
It was extended from Runcorn Gap westward to Garston Docks in 1852, and connected to the Garston and Liverpool Railway into Liverpool. Eastward extension to Warrington Arpley railway station happened by 1854. In 1858 the St. Helens Railway provided a connection to the north to Rainford Junction in 1858 to a junction with the Liverpool and Bury Railway and the Skelmersdale Branch.
From 1860 the Warrington to Garston line was leased by LNWR. The London and North Western Railway opened a branch from Edge Hill to Speke Junction on the 15 February 1864. This provided the LNWR with a more direct route to Warrington and served as its main Liverpool to London route. The entire railway was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway in 1864. The from 1 April 1869, a line from Ditton to the LNWR main line at Weaver Junction, via Runcorn Railway Bridge, was opened for passenger trains, two months after it had opened for goods. Further shortening the London route. This remains the main route today as part of the West Coast Main Line Crewe-Liverpool spur, whilst the section from Ditton to Warrington, passenger services ended in 1962 and is now a busy freight line.
The Rainford Junction to Widnes section closed to passengers in 1951 but was still used for mineral trains up until the 1980's. The last trains along the line ran irregularly and only to the Hays Chemicals siding near Sutton Oak. The majority of this line now lies derelict.
External links
- Information about the disused stations on the line
- Information about the disused stations on the line
- Pictures of the line
- London and North Western Railway Society
- http://newton-le-willows.com : History of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
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