Warrington Central railway station

Warrington Central
First TransPennine Express Class 185 Desiro unit no. 185140 calls at Warrington Central with a service from Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough in December 2008
Location
Place	Warrington
Local authority	Warrington
Coordinates	53°23′30″N 2°35′35″W / 53.3918°N 2.5930°WCoordinates: 53°23′30″N 2°35′35″W / 53.3918°N 2.5930°W
Grid reference	SJ606885
Operations
Station code	WAC
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	1.406 million
2011/12	1.526 million
2012/13	1.593 million
2013/14	1.661 million
2014/15	1.785 million
History
Key dates	Opened circa 1873
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Warrington Central from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Warrington Central railway station is one of two main railway stations serving the town of Warrington in the north-west of England. It is located on the southern route of the Liverpool to Manchester Lines (the former Cheshire Lines Committee route between Liverpool and Manchester), being situated approximately halfway between the two cities. Central station is served by diesel stopping trains between Liverpool and Manchester, and diesel express services between Liverpool and the North East of England or between Liverpool and East Anglia.

Central station has no electrified lines being served only by diesel trains. The second station serving the town centre is Warrington Bank Quay, which accommodates electrified lines on the West Coast Main Line with express services to London, Birmingham and Scotland and also an electrified service to Liverpool Lime Street.

Facilities

Warrington Central station in 2004

The main station building faces away from the town and is of a classical style with some polychrome brickwork. Most of it is rented out to small businesses, the booking office and other facilities having been relocated to a modern building at a lower level. From street level, passengers climb six steps or a short ramp to reach the booking office, and climb further steps to the platforms. Disabled passengers can now easily access both platforms as lifts were installed in June 2008, making Warrington Central fully accessible for the first time.

The station has a customer service office, toilets, waiting rooms, a newsagent and a coffee stall. The entrance building was enlarged and modernised in 2010–11.

Outside there is a car park and a taxi rank. The station is located close to Warrington Bus Interchange.

The adjoining Cheshire Lines Warehouse (a listed building) has been redeveloped as apartments, along with six new apartment blocks.

Services

There are eight trains an hour passing through Warrington Central.

Northern operate two suburban stopping services per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Widnes and two suburban stopper services per hour towards Manchester Oxford Road via Irlam. Late services also terminate at Warrington from either Manchester or Liverpool.

TransPennine Express operate an hourly service to Liverpool Lime Street via Liverpool South Parkway and an hourly express service towards Scarborough via Leeds and York.^[1] There are also daily services to/from Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Hull (all via Leeds). Late services run short to York only. These are however due to end in December 2017, when all TPE services are to be re-routed via the Chat Moss line (a result of the new Northern & TPE franchise awards and the planned electrification of the Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield line). A replacement fast service (marketed under the Northern Connect brand) will be offered by the new Northern Franchisee Arriva Rail North running to and from Manchester Airport.^[2]

East Midlands Trains operate an hourly service to Liverpool Lime Street calling at Widnes and Liverpool South Parkway only and an hourly express service to Norwich via Sheffield and Nottingham. Late services run to Nottingham only.^[3]

Note on usage statistics

The apparent large increase in passenger numbers from 2005–6 to 2006–7 is largely due to a change in the way the statistics were compiled. See . Passengers booking to/from "Warrington Stations" rather than a specific station were allocated differently between the two main Warrington stations with the result that usage at Central apparently increased at the expense of Bank Quay. Total passenger numbers at the two Warrington stations increased by about 8% between 2005–6 and 2006-7.

Notes

1. GB eNRT, May 2016 Edition, Table 39
2. Northern Franchise Improvements - DfT
3. GB eNRT, May 2016 Edition, Tables 49 & 89

External links

• Train times and station information for Warrington Central railway station from National Rail