Hoylake railway station

Hoylake National Rail

Hoylake railway station as viewed from the car park
Location
Place Hoylake
Local authority Wirral
Grid reference SJ216887
Operations
Station code HYK
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  0.165 million
2005/06 Increase 0.175 million
2006/07 Increase 0.292 million
2007/08 Decrease 0.203 million
2008/09 Increase 0.603 million
2009/10 Decrease 0.566 million
2010/11 Increase 0.589 million
2011/12 Increase 0.593 million
2012/13 Decrease 0.573 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.482 million
2014/15 Increase 0.630 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE Merseytravel
Zone B2
History
1866 Opened
1938 Rebuilt and electrified
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hoylake from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Hoylake railway station serves the town of Hoylake, Wirral, England. It lies on the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network. The station also offers free car parking facilities at all times.[1]

History

The station was opened to regular service on 2 July 1866, as part of the Hoylake Railway to Birkenhead Dock railway station.[2][3] The station originally had low cinder-filled platforms.[4] An extension to West Kirby was opened on 1 April 1878, and the line from West Kirby was doubled in 1896.[5][6] The station had a signal box which was originally built at the eastern end of the station and provided in 1889.[6][7] The 21-lever signal box was moved, to be adjacent to the level crossing, in 1895.[7]

From no later than 1901, there were several sidings to the east of the station.[8] There was a carriage shed and a Wirral Railway paint shop from prior to 1912.[9][10][11] The paint shop was closed after the LMS takeover.[12]

1938 LMS rebuild and electrification

Prior to 1938, the station was of varying architectural styles.[13] Built in 1938 adjoining the Up platform, the current station building was designed by the architect William Henry Hamlyn is in the Art Deco style, with a circular clerestory over the booking hall, becoming a Grade II Listed Building in 1988.[14][15][16][17] The sign currently on display in front of the station was recently restored during a renovation.[18] The adjoining footbridge was built at the same time as the Art Deco building, and new level crossing gates were installed.[10][19] The goods yard had a 5-ton crane from 1938.[20]

Through electric services to Liverpool Central commenced on 13 March 1938, when the LMS electrified the lines from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby.[21][22] The service was provided by the then-new LMS electric multiple units. However, on Sunday mornings, the service was provided by the older Mersey Railway electric units which, up until that point, had only ever run from Liverpool to Birkenhead Park.[23]

Since WWII

The multiple sidings to the east of the station continued to be used until 1965. They were used both to store out-of-service electric trains and to serve a freight depot receiving coal for domestic distribution, and also to fuel the gasworks situated alongside the line at this point[24][8] which lasted until 1954.[25] The signal box, which had a manual gate wheel for the level crossing, was closed on 17 September 1994 and demolished a few days later.[7][26]

When the Open Golf Championship was held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (situated between West Kirby and Hoylake) in July 2006 and 2014, services terminated here during the tournament.[27] This was to allow competitors to cross the tracks from the practice course on one side to the championship course on the other.[27][28] This caused some controversy in locally in 2006, especially given the increase in passengers during the championship.[29][30] A rail replacement bus service was put in place between Hoylake and West Kirby.[31]

Facilities

The station is staffed during all opening hours, and has platform CCTV.[1] Each of the two platforms has a seated waiting shelter. There is a payphone, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information.[1] The station provides a "Park and Ride" service. There are a further 167 car parking spaces,[32] which are free to use for travellers, with lighting columns and CCTV to meet Merseytravel's Travelsafe requirements, as well as a 14-space cycle rack.[32] There is step-free access available to both platforms by the use of the level crossing.

Services

Current services are every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime) to West Kirby and Liverpool. At other times, trains operate every 30 minutes.[33] Services are provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Station Facilities for Hoylake". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  2. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 10
  3. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 7
  4. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 12
  5. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 18
  6. 1 2 Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 57
  7. 1 2 3 Maund 2009, p. 229
  8. 1 2 Mitchell & Smith 2014, map XIII
  9. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 53
  10. 1 2 Merseyside Railway History Group 1994, pp. 38-39
  11. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 59
  12. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 131
  13. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 54
  14. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 160
  15. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 55
  16. ↑ "Hoylake". Wirral Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  17. ↑ "Heritage Gateway". English Heritage. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  18. ↑ Hughes, Lorna (26 March 2008). "Hoylake Station sign back home". Wirral News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  19. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 162
  20. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2014, fig. 54
  21. ↑ Gahan 1983, p. 63
  22. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 166
  23. ↑ Gahan 1983, p. 67
  24. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 125
  25. ↑ Maund 2009, p. 210
  26. ↑ Cadwallader & Jenkins 2010, p. 73
  27. 1 2 "Open Golf:: Park and ride sites now identified". Wirral Globe. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  28. ↑ Dunn, Justin (11 July 2006). "Station ready after £600,000 revamp". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  29. ↑ "Lessons that must be learned...". Wirral Globe. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  30. ↑ Dunn, Justin (21 July 2006). "Record number take the train to the Open". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "The Open Championship Briefing" (PDF). Merseyside Police. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  32. 1 2 "Hoylake train station facilities". Merseyrail. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  33. ↑ "Wirral Line timetable" (PDF). Merseyrail. Retrieved 18 December 2013.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hoylake railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
West Kirby
Terminus		   Merseyrail
Wirral Line		   Manor Road
towards Liverpool Central

Coordinates: 53°23′24″N 3°10′44″W / 53.390°N 3.179°W / 53.390; -3.179

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