Broad Green railway station

Broad Green railway station is a railway station serving the Broadgreen district of Liverpool, England, 3+12 miles (5.6 km) east of Liverpool Lime Street. Established in 1830, it is the world's oldest actively operating railway station.

Broad Green
National Rail
General information
LocationBroadgreen, Liverpool
England
Grid referenceSJ406903
Managed byNorthern Trains
Transit authorityMerseytravel
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBGE
Fare zoneC1
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyLiverpool and Manchester Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
15 September 1830 (1830-09-15)Station opened
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.424 million
2019/20Increase 0.483 million
2020/21Decrease 0.107 million
2021/22Increase 0.305 million
2022/23Increase 0.368 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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The oldest passenger station in the world was Crown Street railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester passenger railway opening on 17 September 1830. The trains set out on the first day at the Liverpool end. The second station on the line was the original Edge Hill railway station, the third was Broad Green station. In 1836 Crown Street station was demolished and Edge Hill decommissioned. A new Edge Hill station opened to the north of the original station in the grounds of the Edge Hill junction. This leaves Broad Green station as the oldest used railway station in the world. The current station buildings are not original,[1] dating from 1972.[2]

About 110 yards (100 m) to the east of the station the abandoned North Liverpool Extension Line passes under the lines, which is currently part of the Trans Pennine Trail.[3]

Facilities

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The ticket office is located on the Liverpool-bound platform (platform 1) and like most Merseytravel-sponsored stations is staffed throughout the hours of service, seven days per week. A waiting shelter is provided on platform 2 and there are digital display screens and customer help points provided on both sides. The platforms are linked by a subway with steps, but level access is available to both sides via nearby streets.[4]

Merseytravel announced in April 2019 that they had been successful in a bid for funding lifts being installed at the station under the Department for Transport's ‘Access for All’ programme. The lifts are expected to be installed at some point over the following five years.[5]

The station is located very close to junction 4 of the M62 motorway however it is not a 'parkway' or an 'interchange' station. It has recently[when?] introduced a 'Park and Ride' scheme, with a large car park situated on the south side of the station. Broadgreen Hospital is a little under half a mile away.

Services

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This station is operated and managed by Northern. The station receives three trains per hour in each direction Monday-Saturday, during the off-peak.

3tph to Liverpool Lime Street, calling at Wavertree Tech Park and Edge Hill. 1tph to Manchester Airport, via Lea Green, Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Piccadilly. 2tph to Wigan North Western via St Helens Central. During peak hours, additional services operate to Manchester Victoria and Blackpool North via Preston.

On Sundays, there are 2 trains per hour in each direction, with the Wigan NW service extending to Blackpool North, and the Manchester Airport service extending to Wilmslow.

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References

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  1. ^ "Community Website Builder".
  2. ^ "Face-lift for Broad Green". Railway Magazine. November 1971. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  3. ^ OpenStreetMap
  4. ^ Broad Green station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 11 January 2017
  5. ^ McDonough, Tony (5 April 2019). "Merseytravel secures funding for passenger lifts at six Merseyrail stations". Liverpool Business News. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
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Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Wavertree Technology Park   Northern Trains
Liverpool-Manchester Line
  Roby
  Northern Trains
Liverpool-Wigan Line
 
Disused railways
Edge Lane   LNWR
Olive Mount chord
  Terminus

53°24′23″N 2°53′37″W / 53.4065°N 2.8935°W / 53.4065; -2.8935