Headbolt Lane. You CAN see the join.

Saturday 7th October 2023

Headbolt Lane, Britain’s latest newest railway station, opened for business on Thursday taking many people by surprise including, it would seem, Merseyrail and Northern Rail which both operate trains there.

The £80 million station (you read that right, £80 million) is located a mile east of the previous terminus at Kirkby where electric Merseyrail trains arrived from Liverpool to the south west and Northern’s diesel trains came over from Wigan to the north east.

Two sets of buffers either side of a road bridge at Kirkby station made sure the two trains only ever ‘kissed and turned’ with no through running possible as used to happen before 1977 when Merseyrail was created. As you can see in the photo below taken at Kirkby station looking towards the new station at Headbolt Lane, those buffers have now been removed.

And here’s the now abandoned platform at Kirkby on the far side of the railway bridge where Northern trains used to terminate and where Merseyrail trains now continue on towards Headbolt Lane.

Battery technology fitted to seven of Merseyrail’s smart new Stadler built Class 777 electric trains means they can use the unnelectrified track for the extra mile to the new (‘kiss and turn’) terminus that’s been built at Headbolt Lane.

This brings a welcome and convenient direct connection to Merseyside for residents of the Tower Hill and Northwood residential areas in west Kirkby both located close to the new station as you can see from the map below.

The £80 million funding for the station has come from the Transforming Cities Fund and the project has been a collaboration between Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Knowsley Council, Network Rail, Merseyrail and Northern.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram reckons Headbolt Lane “is just one step on the journey towards my ambition for a London-style transport system that will make getting around our region quick, cheap and reliable wherever you live.”

Which is all good.

With the new station now open Northern’s trains from Wigan terminate on a newly constructed platform 3 on the east side of the station ….

… while Merseyrail’s terminate on platform 1 or 2 …

… on the west side of a ‘Berlin Wall’ style fence …

… which separates the buffer stops…

… and seems to have been built so train crews never see each other, or maybe it’s something to do with headlights approaching each other unnerving drivers even though the same arrangement applied at Kirkby without the need for a fence.

It does seem a strange set up knowing Merseytravel’s long term aspirations are to extend its Merseyrail network and possibly restore through journeys to Wigan lost in 1977. I’m surprised what they call ‘passive provision’ hasn’t been incorporated into the design, or perhaps it has as I noticed a second section of track running parallel south of platform 3 which just ends with no buffer stop and the fence and buffers that are there can obviously be removed (as st Kirkby) and the tracks rejoined.

However, the gap between the two buffer stops is now being used to provide ground level, step free access from the station building to platform 2 (there’s been no need for expensive lifts and footbridge) as well as a new pedestrian exit on the south side of the station for easy access to the Northwood area, which is still under construction.

The second platform for Merseyrail trains isn’t needed for the 15 minute frequency timetable but has presumably been incorporated for service enhancements in the future as well as another aspiration, with neighbouring Lancashire County Council, to connect the large town of Skelmersdale, north east of Kirkby, to the rail network.

Update: however see the first comment below explaining the plan is to run the 15 minute service with trains laying over for around 20 minutes hence needing two platforms.

While visiting yesterday a train arrived on a test run …

… making use of the second platform making for what will be an unusual sight.

For now, due to only two of the seven battery Class 777 trains being available for service (and as captured in the above photo), the 15 minute frequency timetable between Liverpool Central and Kirkby has been halved to half hourly with just one of these journeys each hour continuing to Headbolt Lane.

So despite the razzmatazz of a brand new station opening, passengers using the line are suffering a halving of their service until more battery trains become available. Another rather dodgy aspect of the new (temporary) arrangements is a very tight connection between arriving Northern trains from Wigan and departing Merseyrail trains to Liverpool. The former arrive at 38 minutes past the hour and the latter leave at 39 minutes past.

When I visited yesterday, the 11:38 arrival was running 17 minutes late so obviously missed the connection whereas an hour earlier, the 10:38 arrived spot on time with a member of staff by the station building calling out for passengers wanting the connection to hurry through for the Merseyrail departure which left two minutes late at 10:41.

The station building is a basic affair with a two window ticket office (Merseyrail has no plans to close its offices) and a Ticket Vending Machine …

… as well as half a dozen seats and two toilets.

Out on the platforms there are sets of three seats (two on each on platforms 1 and 2 and three on platform 3) and basic shelters (one on platforms 1 and 3 – the platforms actually in use, and two on platform 2). There are also the usual train departure signs.

Outside, landscaping was still in progress yesterday …

… with most of the 300 space car park not yet ready (it’s anticipated it’ll attract many motorists not least from Skelmersdale). .

Bizarrely sets of three seats are conveniently placed for people wanting a sit down either as they approach the station or just as they leave.

It’s a shame nice seats couldn’t have been incorporated into the bus stop area which, although outside the entrance/exit is an annoying (albeit short) walk.

There are two stops – one for the fifteen minute frequency route 20 (Northwood to Liverpool) and the other for the half hourly route 217 (Tower Hill to Huyton) both operated by Stagecoach along with Sunday route 14A to Liverpool.

I was surprised the Stagecoach operated 319 trainlink branded route wasn’t serving Headbolt Lane as when I blogged about that innovative route, which links rail less Skelmersdale with Kirkby in February, it was said it would be diverted to serve the new station.

Maybe Stagecoach was also caught out by the sudden opening of the station and changes to the 319 will happen in due course.

Another update: Stagecoach will divert the 319 once the four trains an hour service is introduced to Headbolt Lane, which makes sense.

Cyclists haven’t been forgotten and have the luxury of a fully enclosed cycle rack offering better weather protection than waiting bus passengers.

Although updated timetables for Northern are on display on platform 3 …

…. and Mersyrail has updated its route map to show the new join between the two networks…

… elsewhere, the opening of Headbolt Lane at other stations including Kirkby and Liverpool Central stations seems to be a tightly kept secret.

Maps aren’t updated.

Route diagrams don’t acknowledge the new station’s existence.

Nor do timetables, where displayed, which were continuing to show the former 15 minute frequency, now temporarily abandoned.

And it was no good trying to buy a ticket to Headbolt Lane as national databases hadn’t been updated when I travelled yesterday.

It has all the hallmarks of a rushed opening. Which is odd. Even Northern’s hourly rail replacement bus service between Kirkby and Rainford (the station east of Headbolt Lane and where Northern trains were temporarily terminating) which had been providing a link over the last few months until Headbolt Lane opened was still superfluously running yesterday and would only be ending today.

I’m sure all these things will be sorted in the coming months and once the 15 minute frequency through to Kirkby is restored (and on to Headbolt Lane) providing better connections with Northern, the new station will be a success.

It might even feature in an updated Network North document, listed as yet another benefit of cancelling HS2, if the Prime Minister gets to hear about it. Not least with that £80 million price tag, making it the most expensive new station opening so far.

Roger French

Today’s scheduled post “V is for ….” has been held over until Tuesday.

Blogging timetable 06:00 TThS – with yet another bonus Su DRT blog coming tomorrow.

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