Garston railway station (Merseyside)

Garston railway station was a railway station in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. The station was located on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail suburban rail network. The station was closed in 2006 when it was replaced by Liverpool South Parkway, which is a combined bus and rail interchange. The proximity of the stations was so close the platforms of South Parkway nearly merged onto the Garston station's platforms.

Garston (Merseyside)
A Class 507 unit at Garston (Merseyside) railway station
General information
Location	Garston, Liverpool England
Coordinates	53.3572°N 2.8946°W / 53.3572; -2.8946
Grid reference	SJ405848
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Cheshire Lines Committee
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	CLC London Midland Region of British Railways Merseyrail
Key dates
1 April 1874 (1874-04-01)	Opened as Garston
17 April 1972	Closed
2 January 1978	Reopened as Garston (Lancs)
1979	Renamed Garston (Merseyside)
10 June 2006 (2006-06-10)	Closed
Passengers
2002/03	141,022
2003/04	Statistics not produced
2004/05	190,778
2005/06	222,247
2006/07	42,886
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Cheshire Lines Committee
Legend
Merseyside Lines
Southport Lord Street Birkdale Palace to Southport Ainsdale Ainsdale Beach Northern line Woodvale Freshfield to Liverpool Central Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway Barton Mossbridge Hillhouse Junction Altcar and Hillhouse Lydiate Sefton and Maghull to Ormskirk Old Roan Aintree Junction Southport Junction Aintree Central Aintree Northern line Warbreck Orrell Park Walton to Kirkby Rice Lane to Liverpool Central Fazakerley Junctions Walton on the Hill Huskisson Clubmoor West Derby Knotty Ash & Stanley Broad Green City Line Childwall Gateacre Northern line Liverpool Central Liverpool Central High Level St James Brunswick (original) Egerton Street Junction Brunswick St Michaels Otterspool Aigburth Cressington to Lime Street Garston Liverpool South Parkway Hunts Cross West Junction Hunts Cross to Manchester Central

History

A 1913 Railway Clearing House map showing (left) railways in the vicinity of Garston

The station was opened on 1 April 1874 by the Cheshire Lines Committee.^[1] It was served by local services between Liverpool Central, Warrington Central and Manchester Central, and also to Aintree Central on the North Liverpool Extension Line.

In 1960, the passenger service to Aintree was cut back to Gateacre. In 1966 services from Manchester were diverted to Liverpool Lime Street, leaving Garston with just the Gateacre-Liverpool train. This service continued until 17 April 1972, when Garston station closed^[1] along with the line from Liverpool Central.

In 1978, the former CLC route through Garston was partially reinstated as part of the electrified Northern Line of Merseyrail, and the station reopened on 2 January 1978^[1] as a single platform terminus for services from Kirkby. Prior to the 1972 closure, the station had been named simply Garston, but upon reopening in 1978, it became Garston (Lancs), which was changed the following year to Garston (Merseyside).^[1] In 1983 services were extended further south to Hunts Cross and Garston once again became a through station with two platforms. In 1984 services were diverted to run to Southport instead of Kirkby. From the airport's opening in 1933 until 1986 it was the nearest station to Liverpool Airport.

In 2004, work began on a combined rail/bus interchange at Liverpool South Parkway. The new station's proximity to Garston rendered the old station surplus to requirements. Garston closed on 10 June 2006 and Liverpool South Parkway opened the following day.

The station was demolished soon after closure,^[2] but the access road with its original road markings still exist.^{[citation needed]}

Services

At the time of closure, trains operated to Southport via Liverpool Central to the north, and Hunts Cross to the south at 15-minute intervals, Monday-Saturday daytimes. During evenings and all day Sundays, the frequency was every 30 minutes.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Cressington Line and station open		Merseyrail Northern Line		Hunts Cross Line and station open

See also

• Allerton TMD
• Allerton Junction
• Garston Dock railway station
• Hunts Cross chord