Conway Park railway station

Conway Park
Location
Place	Birkenhead
Local authority	Wirral
Grid reference	SJ320889
Operations
Station code	CNP
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*
2010/11	1.724 million
2011/12	1.718 million
2012/13	1.591 million
2013/14	1.061 million
2014/15	1.285 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	B1
History
1998	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Conway Park from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Conway Park railway station is situated in the town centre of Birkenhead, Wirral, England. It lies on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.

History

Conway Park on Merseyrail

Conway Park is the newest station on the Wirral Line. In 1990, the Merseyside Development Corporation joined with British Rail and Merseyrail to study the cost of the new station.^[1] The station opened to the public on 22 June 1998,^[2] after an official opening by Neil Kinnock on 24 April 1998.^[3][4] Conway Park is between Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square stations, approached on either side by a tunnel built by the Mersey Railway in the 1880s. It was built by excavating a box downwards, opening out the roof of the tunnel, which is 18 m (59 ft) below ground level. The platforms are reached by stairs or lifts from the ticket office.^[5]

The station was built in order to provide a station on the lines from New Brighton and West Kirby that was more convenient for the town centre of Birkenhead than either Birkenhead Park or Hamilton Square (which are otherwise the nearest stations). Its name comes from the name of the redevelopment area on the north side of the town centre in which it is situated. The name has come under criticism as some regard it not to be particularly indicative of the station's location. When it was originally being planned, the station was known as Birkenhead Market. The platforms are protected by ticket barriers. The road which the station is situated on is Europa Boulevard.

A cycle rack was built and opened inside the ticket hall in 2015.

Facilities

The station is staffed during all opening hours and has platform CCTV.^[6] There are toilets, a payphone, a vending machine, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. The station doesn't have a free car park, though there is a drop-off point on Europa Boulevard, as well as a "Pay and Display" car park, to the rear of the station as viewed from Birkenhead town centre. Step-free access to the platforms, for wheelchairs and prams, is possible, via the lifts.^[7] Each platform also has sheltered seating. Free Wi-Fi was introduced in October 2015.^[8]

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime) to New Brighton and West Kirby and every 5–10 minutes via Hamilton Square and the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool. At other times, trains run every 30 minutes to New Brighton and West Kirby, and every 15 minutes to Liverpool.^[9] These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

Gallery

• 

  A Merseyrail Class 507 about to depart to Hamilton Square.

• 

  The station frontage.

• 

  A different view of the station frontage, on Europa Boulevard.

• 

  The platforms.

See also

• List of underground stations of the Merseyrail network

References

1. "Around the regions: Midland". RAIL. No. 116. EMAP National Publications. 22 February – 7 March 1990. p. 17. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
2. "Conway Park station opens plus 'Smart' bus service". Wirral Globe. 24 June 1998. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
3. Maund 2001, p. 77
4. "Kinnock puts town on track for 21st century". Wirral Globe. 29 April 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
5. "Station Facilities for Conway Park". Retrieved 11 January 2008.
6. Station Facilities for Conway Park Accessed 2013-12-19
7. Conway Park Station Plan Accessed 2013-12-19
8. Rigby, Emma (22 October 2015). "Free wi-fi introduced at Hamilton Square and Conway Park stations". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
9. "Wirral Line timetable" (PDF). Merseyrail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-12-18.

Sources

• Maund, T.B. (2001). Merseyrail Electrics: The Inside Story. NBC Books. OCLC 655126526.

External links

• Train times and station information for Conway Park railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Conway Park railway station from Merseyrail
• Description of the construction of Conway Park railway station

Coordinates: 53°23′35″N 3°01′23″W / 53.393°N 3.023°W