Twelve Quays is a ferry terminal and business park which is located between East Float and the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

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 ...

, in

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 ...

. Twelve Quays separates Woodside from Seacombe.

History

Twelve Quays is named from the quaysides which served the adjoining Morpeth Dock, Egerton Dock, Alfred Dock, Wallasey Dock and East Float, as well as quaysides on the River Mersey. Wallasey Dock was infilled in 2001, to expand the land area of the site. The area was an

artificial island An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...

, until the infilling of the Morpeth Dock entrance. Twelve Quays includes the former Wallasey Dock Impounding Station, and the Central Hydraulic Tower. Several bridges connect Twelve Quays to Birkenhead and Seacombe, two of these being along Tower Road and one at the entrance to Egerton Dock. Another of the bridges along Tower Road was removed, when the East Float entrance to Egerton Dock was infilled.

Ferry terminal

The ferry terminal was opened in Summer 2002 at a cost of £25m. It is used for transporting passengers and freight between

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and freight to Dublin. Until 2023, it also served passengers to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Owned by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, the terminal replaced facilities at Brocklebank and Canada docks at

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 ...

& reduces voyage times between Liverpool and Ireland by 90 minutes. Twelve Quays has a floating landing stage in the river that can take two ro-ro ferries at the same time. The terminal provides vehicle parking space on the site of the former Wallasey Dock.

Bus link to Hamilton Square railway station

A courtesy bus operates from the terminal to a stop outside Birkenhead Hamilton Square railway station (and vice versa) in connection with

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

ferry sailings to and from Belfast. Through ticketing is available.

References

External links

* * * {{Birkenhead docks Birkenhead docks Transport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Maritime transport in Merseyside