Ellesmere Port railway station is located in the town of

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The station was an intermediate through station on the Hooton–Helsby line. Now all passenger services terminate at the station from both directions. It is both a terminus of the Wirral Line, a commuter rail system operated by

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

and of

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

services to Warrington Bank Quay. Departures and arrivals of Merseyrail services are on platform 1 with departures and arrivals to Warrington Bank Quay on platform 2.

History

The station is situated on the branch of the Birkenhead Railway from Hooton to

Helsby Helsby is a village, Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlook ...

which opened in 1863. The station itself opened on 1 July 1863, as Whitby Locks.Butt (1995). It was renamed Ellesmere Port on 1 September 1870. The station building is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Ellesmere Port became part of the

network in 1994, when the line from Hooton was electrified by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

and through train services to Liverpool's city centre via

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

commenced. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, page 37, states that a trial of new

battery trains will be undertaken in 2020, in view to extend the Wirral Line branch terminal to Helsby. If successful, Helsby will be one of the terminals of the Wirral line superseding Ellesmere Port.

Facilities

The station is staffed from Monday to Friday, between 06:05 and 14:00, and is unstaffed otherwise. The station has platform

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

, a 109-space

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

and a cycle rack with 10 spaces and secure storage for 14 cycles. Each platform has a waiting shelter. There are live electronic departure and arrival screens, on the platform, for passenger information. There is a

payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone or pay telephone or public phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic public areas. Prepayment is required by inserting coins or tel ...

, next to the entrance, on platform 1. The station has

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

s, within the station concourse, next to the booking office. Platform 1, for Merseyrail services, can be accessed by ramp, for passengers with

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

s or prams. Platform 2, for Northern services, can be accessed by a passage alongside the staircase on Whitby Road. Cross-platform access, within the station, is by staircase only. Outside of the ticket office opening hours passengers must purchase tickets from the Ticket Vending Machine located on the platform. This machine can issue tickets to any destination on the rail network. Passengers failing to purchase a ticket will be liable for a

Penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares ...

if they board a

service without obtaining a valid ticket. In 2014 the station office buildings were improved on Platform 1, to include a new and improved ticket office, a new toilet, a new café and retention of most of the building's classic features and works.

Services

Merseyrail Wirral Line services operate every 30 minutes each day (including Sunday) towards

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Monday to Friday (except during the leaf-fall season in autumn), a few extra services run towards Liverpool in the morning and from Liverpool in the evening, giving a 15 minutes frequency in the peak direction only. These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 777

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...

. As of May 2023,

operates a limited service (two trains per day each way, Mondays to Saturdays only) to

via Stanlow & Thornton and Ince & Elton. No services stop at Stanlow, due to the poor condition of the station footbridge. The evening service from here continues beyond Helsby to Liverpool Lime Street via . *Platform 1 serves the westbound

electric services. *Platform 2 serves the infrequent eastbound Northern Trains diesel train services to Warrington Bank Quay via Helsby.

Gallery

Image:Ellesmere_Port_Station_-_geograph.org.uk_-_34831.jpg, The footbridge and exterior of the station. Image:Ellesmere Port Railway Station (geograph 2987143).jpg, A Merseyrail Class 507 waits at the station. Image:Ellesmere Port railway station building (1).JPG, The station building viewed from the drop-off point. Image:Ellesmere Port railway station (5).JPG, The view towards Stanlow.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Uk mapping via yahoo
{{Railway stations served by Merseyrail Railway stations in Cheshire DfT Category E stations Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Former Birkenhead Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations served by Merseyrail Railway stations served by Northern Grade II listed railway stations Ellesmere Port