Fazakerley railway station

The Liverpool and Bury Railway (L&BR) was authorised in 1845,^[1] but while it was under construction, the L&BR amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) in 1846,^[2] and the M&LR in turn was renamed the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847.^[3] The line opened on 20 November 1848;^[4] one of the original stations was Simonswood.^[5][6] This station was renamed twice: it had become Aintree by 1850,^[7] and in March 1860 it took its present name Fazakerley^[8] to avoid confusion with the nearby Aintree station on a different line,^[6] which had opened in 1849.^[9]

At the time of opening, the mileage of the station was 29+1⁄2 miles (47.5 km) from Bury,^[6] but this has since been amended to 31 miles 31 chains (50.5 km) from Manchester Victoria via Wigan.^[10]

To the north-east of the station is Fazakerley Junction, 30 miles 72 chains (49.7 km) from Manchester Victoria,^[10] which is where the North Mersey Branch once headed westwards towards Gladstone Dock.^[11] The branch has closed, but the junction remains as the point where the double track out of Liverpool becomes single track for the last few miles into Kirkby.^[10] The line eastwards was singled in May 1970, though through running beyond Kirkby (to Wigan Wallgate and Bolton) continued until the inauguration of electric operation in May 1977.^[12]

In common with most Merseyrail stations, it is staffed throughout the day - the street-level ticket office opens 15 minutes prior to start of service and closes at 00:25 each evening (including Sundays). At platform level, there are digital display screens, timetable posters and shelters on each side; a P.A system also provides automated train running information. The ticket office is linked to the platforms via a footbridge - this has a lift installed on each side to provide step-free access. There are cycle racks for 4 cycles and secure cycle storage for 20 cycles.^[13]

The station is currently served by four trains per hour in each direction during the day time Monday - Saturday. In late evenings and on Sundays services are reduced to two trains per hour in each direction. Services are operated using Class 777 BEMUs.^[14][15]

In the future, the service will be increased to up to four trains per hour in each direction as more battery operated Class 777 trains become available.^[16]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kirkby towards Headbolt Lane		Merseyrail Northern Line		Rice Lane towards Liverpool Central

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
• Yonge, John (March 2005) [1990]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 4: Midlands & North West (2nd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 0-9549866-0-1.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fazakerley railway station.

• Train times and station information for Fazakerley railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Fazakerley railway station from Merseyrail