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The Chester–Warrington line is a railway line running between Chester and Warrington Bank Quay in North West England.
| Chester–Warrington | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Helsby station with the line to Chester on the left | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Open | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Chester (North West England) | ||
| Termini |
| ||
| Service | |||
| Operator(s) | Northern Trains Transport for Wales | ||
| Rolling stock | |||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
| Operating speed | 75 mph (121 km/h) | ||
| |||
Chester–Warrington Bank Quay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There are two passenger trains per hour in each direction between Chester and Warrington. One (operated by Northern Trains) continues to Manchester Victoria and Leeds and the other (operated by Transport for Wales) continues to Manchester Picadilly. A Transport for Wales service also runs from Chester to Liverpool via Frodsham from where it continues via the Halton Curve.
History
editInterests in the Birkenhead docks were aware that they needed a railway connection towards Manchester and the Lancashire manufacturing districts, to enable them to compete with Liverpool. The Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway[1] was incorporated on 26 June 1846 with capital of £1.5 million, to build a line from Chester to Walton Junction, near Warrington, where it would connect with the Grand Junction Railway (West Coast Main Line), leading to Manchester.[2][3]
Shortage of money following the Railway Mania period slowed progress considerably. In October 1850 there was a formal opening, but the actual public opening finally took place on 18 December 1850.[2]
Description
editThe line begins at Chester and runs northwards. At Mickle Trafford the Mid-Cheshire Line diverges north-easterly to Manchester which is primarily used by local trains. Most trains between the Chester and Manchester instead use the Chester–Warrington line on the whole length and continue via the L&MR Liverpool–Manchester line.
The line then passes through the Sutton Tunnel (over a mile long) where in 1851 the Sutton Tunnel railway accident took place. It then heads northwards to cross and then run alongside the West Coast Main Line, eventually joining it at Acton Grange south of Warrington Bank Quay.
Services
editTransport for Wales operate an hourly service throughout between Manchester Piccadilly and Chester and onwards calling at all stations to Llandudno on the North Wales Coast Line (except in the late evenings and on Sundays, when trains terminate at Chester). Certain services run to or from Holyhead instead of Llandudno on weekdays to connect with the Irish ferries.[4]
Class 175 units are primarily used for the TfW services between Manchester and North Wales, although Class 158 units can appear. Class 156 Sprinter units are used on the infrequent service between Liverpool/Warrington B.Q. and Ellesmere Port which use the line between Warrington and Helsby. Until Northern Trains retired its last Class 142 units (Pacers) in November 2020, those were in use on the route as well.[5]
Since May 2019, an hourly Northern Trains train runs Chester–Warrington Bank Quay–Manchester Victoria–Bradford–Leeds (via the Calder Valley)[6][7] and an hourly TfW train runs from Chester–Helsby–Frodsham–Runcorn–Liverpool South Parkway–Liverpool Lime Street.
The line is also used by the Freightliner Group for access to the rail-served maritime freight terminal at Ellesmere Port.
Future developments
editIn March 2015, the Electrification Task Force announced that the line was a Tier 1 priority for being electrified in the Network Rail Control Period 6 (2019–2024).[8]
See also
edit
References
edit
- ^ "The Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway." The 8D Association; retrieved 15 March 2017
- ^ a b Maund, T. B. (2000). The Birkenhead Railway (LMS and GW Joint). Sawtry: Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. pp. 18–20. ISBN 090-1115-878.
- ^ Grant, Donald J. (2017). Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain. Kibworth Beauchamp: Matador Publishers. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1785893-537.
- ^ Table 81 National Rail timetable, December 2016
- ^ Slater, Chris (27 November 2020). "Final call for hated pacer trains as last 'truck on tracks' makes final journey". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Rail industry confirms new summer 2019 timetable". 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ "Northern Rail Franchise TransPennine Express Rail Franchise" (PDF).
- ^ "Electrification Task Force Final Report Revealed". Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2015.