Sandhills railway station

Sandhills
A Merseyrail Class 508 at the station in 2012.
Location
Place	Kirkdale
Local authority	Liverpool
Coordinates	53°25′48″N 2°59′30″W / 53.4300°N 2.9917°WCoordinates: 53°25′48″N 2°59′30″W / 53.4300°N 2.9917°W
Grid reference	SJ342930
Operations
Station code	SDL
Managed by	Merseyrail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.272 million
2005/06	0.314 million
2006/07	0.306 million
2007/08	0.208 million
2008/09	0.390 million
2009/10	0.446 million
2010/11	0.495 million
2011/12	0.501 million
2012/13	0.472 million
2013/14	1.250 million
2014/15	1.324 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	C1
History
1850	Opened
2007	Closed for Refurbishment
2008	Reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Sandhills from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Sandhills railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.It was built by the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway Company and now stands at the junction between the branch to Southport and the branch to Ormskirk and Kirkby.

The two platforms form a single island, overlooking the River Mersey on one side, and the former industrial area of Commercial Road on the other. It is also used by football fans heading for Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. matches: a bus service called Soccerbus runs between the station and the football stadiums on match-days only.^[1]

Passengers have to walk up a ramp to reach the ticket office, then through a subway and up ramps to reach the platform

History

Sandhills opened in 1850 as an intermediate station when the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway was extended from its previous terminal at Waterloo to Liverpool Exchange. It became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR), on 14 June 1855.^[2] who took over from the (LCSR). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948 and in 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail Network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatised in 1995). The station had four wooden platforms until it was rationalised in 1973.

An extensive refurbishment plan for the station was suggested in 2006 which involved the building of a completely new booking hall and greatly improved facilities on the platform. A large canopy was constructed - originally intended to cover the entire length of the platform, but now eventually covering approximately half. In addition, a dedicated bus-rail interchange point was built, improving transport beyond the station to localities such as Kirkdale, Anfield and Everton. On 24 April 2007, improvement works to the station at a cost of £6million were agreed. In November 2007, it was announced that the station would be closed from 17 November 2007 until March 2008 for refurbishment.^[3] The refurbishment work was extended until July 2008, when the station reopened in a partly completed state. The full completion of the work at the station was finished in early 2009 and a second phase of works to develop a bus turnaround facility in front of the station is planned in 2010.

Services

Off-peak service frequency is as follows:

• 4 trains per hour (tph) to Southport
• 4 tph to Ormskirk
• 4 tph to Kirkby
• 4 tph to Hunts Cross via Moorfields & Liverpool Central

During late evenings and on Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph on the Ormskirk and Kirkby lines. On Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph beyond Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross. On winter Sundays, frequencies are also reduced to 2 tph on the Liverpool Central to Southport section, giving a total 6 tph from all lines between Sandhills and Liverpool Central.

Gallery

• 

  Sandhills station in 1979

• 

  The main entrance, viewed from platform 1.

• 

  Platform 1, with Alexandra Tower in the distance.

• 

  A Merseyrail Class 508 arrives with a service from Liverpool.

• 

  A Merseyrail Class 507 arrives with a service from Liverpool.

Land History

In the early nineteenth century, the estate of Sandhills was purchased by Liverpool solicitor and land speculator, John Leigh (1752-1823). As well as building a 'handsome house, where he had beautiful gardens, complete with hothouses and conservatories'. He also turned much of the pasture land to clay pits and brickworks needed to fuel the rapid growth of Liverpool - he reputedly lowered the ground level by seven or eight feet (well over two metres). His son, John Shaw Leigh (1791-1871) reaped the most benefit, selling plots piecemeal at huge profits to supply the land needed for the expanding docks and railways.^[4]

Passengers

The usage figures for the station underestimate the actual usage as it is a busy interchange station. 71,953 interchange passengers are recorded for 2004-5, but passenger statistics do not include travellers using Saveaway or other multi-mode tickets.

References

1. "Soccerbus". merseytravel.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
2. Awdry, p. 88
3. Merseytravel - Temporary Closure of Sandhills Station 17 November 2007 to March 2008. Accessed 5 November 2007
4. "The Leigh Family of Liverpool". Liverpool Mercury. 11 January 1866. Col. 1. Retrieved 27 June 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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

• Station information for Sandhills railway station from Merseyrail