Hunts Cross railway station

Hunts Cross
The station buildings at Hunts Cross.
Location
Place	Hunt's Cross
Local authority	Liverpool
Coordinates	53°21′38″N 2°51′22″W / 53.3606°N 2.8560°WCoordinates: 53°21′38″N 2°51′22″W / 53.3606°N 2.8560°W
Grid reference	SJ431852
Operations
Station code	HNX
Managed by	Merseyrail
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.326 million
2005/06	0.444 million
2006/07	0.464 million
2007/08	0.503 million
2008/09	1.270 million
2009/10	1.191 million
2010/11	1.172 million
2011/12	1.161 million
2012/13	1.063 million
2013/14	1.290 million
2014/15	1.365 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Merseytravel
Zone	C2
History
Original company	Cheshire Lines Committee
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
May 1874	Opened
1983	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 Hunts Cross from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

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

Hunts Cross railway station is a Grade II listed railway station in Hunt's Cross, Liverpool, England. It is situated on the southern branch of the City Line's Liverpool to Manchester route, and is the southern terminus of Merseyrail's Northern Line.

History

Originally built by the Cheshire Lines Committee and opened in May 1874,^[1] Hunts Cross was the only four-platform station on the line running between Liverpool Central and Manchester Central stations. It was also a junction at the southern end of the North Liverpool Extension Line to Gateacre, West Derby, north Liverpool docks and Southport. This line was closed in stages from 1952 to 1979 and is now part of National Cycle Network Route 62, the Trans Pennine Trail. The closure of the North Liverpool route left Hunts Cross to be served by the local service from Liverpool Lime Street to Warrington and Manchester.

In 1983 Merseyrail's electrified Northern Line from Liverpool Central was extended to Hunts Cross from its previous terminus at Garston. One of the former Gateacre line platforms was reinstated as a bay platform for terminating electric services. Northern Line trains originally ran through to Kirkby, but in 1984 the timetable was altered and trains continued to Southport instead.

When the Merseyrail service was introduced, the service from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester was cut back to terminate at Hunts Cross. Passengers from Manchester wishing to continue to Liverpool had to change to a Merseyrail train. This arrangement was short-lived and ended in 1989 when the through trains to Lime Street were restored.

From 11 June 2006, the number of Manchester-bound trains stopping at Hunts Cross was reduced from two trains per hour to one. However, during morning and evening peaks the half-hourly frequency is still maintained.

From 11 December 2006, the Monday-Saturday evening Northern Line service was increased to run every 15 minutes. Previously, services had reduced to a half-hourly frequency after 7.30pm.

In the May 2013 'Network News' section of the Northern Line timetable, it was announced that Hunts Cross would shortly receive funding in order to develop improvement schemes at the station.^[2]

Facilities

The station is in a cutting and is reached by stepped ramps from the ticket office. A building on the Southport/Manchester-bound (island) platform (platforms 2&3) contains an accessible toilet, a snack shop and waiting room. The former main station building has been converted into a bar/restaurant and has been replaced by a modern ticket office. A small car park is available, and bus stops are nearby.

Services

Northern Rail unit 142031 in Platform 2 on a Manchester Oxford Road service.

Hunts Cross is served by diesel Northern services on the City Line between Liverpool Lime Street and Warrington Central and Manchester Oxford Road This service has one train per hour with additional calls during peak hours.^[3] Merseyrail electric Northern Line services operate from Southport via Liverpool Central every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday, reducing to half-hourly on Sundays.^[4]

In addition, a limited number of peak-hour services operated by East Midlands Trains additionally stop here between Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham/Norwich.

Hunts Cross station currently has three operational platforms.

1. Northern and East Midlands Trains services bound for Liverpool Lime Street (Merseyrail City Line).
2. Northern services bound for Warrington Central and Manchester Oxford Road (Merseyrail City Line).
3. Merseyrail services bound for Liverpool Central and Southport (Merseyrail Northern Line).

The track serving platform 2 is also electrified and can be used by Merseyrail EMUs if the usual platform is blocked. This facility is used rarely, as any terminating train in this platform will block the through line towards Manchester, with potential delays to other services.

Gallery

• 

  The Waiting Room bar and restaurant, formerly the station building.

• 

  A Merseyrail Class 508 arrives with a service from Liverpool.

• 

  The modern station building.

• 

  A view of the station, from the street.

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 125. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
2. "Merseyrail Northern Line Timetable May 2013" (PDF). Merseytravel. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
3. GB eNRT 2016 Edition, Table 89 (Network Rail)
4. GB eNRT 2016 Edition, Table 103 (Network Rail)

External links

• Train times and station information for Hunts Cross railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Hunts Cross railway station from Merseyrail