After finishing my day in Manchester I decided to film a onboard journey back to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central via the Southern route between Liverpool and Manchester on the Mid Cheshire Committee Line.
We start at Manchester Piccadilly where we join a 3 car Class 185 Desiro on the 1507 service from Cleethorpes departing from Platform 14
Calling at Manchester Oxford Road, Urmston, Irlam, Birchwood, Warrington Central, Liverpool South Parkway and finishing up at Liverpool Lime Street.
For the first part from Manchester Piccadilly until after Deansgate we follow one of the most congested routes in Manchester known as the Castlefield Corridor
From there our route travels alongside the Manchester Tramlink just before it calls at Cornbrook
Passing the Sir Bobby Robson Stand at one of the most iconic football stadiums of Old Trafford home of Manchester United FC which is just before the electric wires end at Trafford Park Freight Terminal used by Db Cargo and Freightliner
From there we follow the Mid Cheshire Committee line passing through Trafford Park, Humphrey Park served by the stopping Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Oxford Road services provided by Northern
Calling at Urmston which opened in 1873 served by hourly Transpennine Express services to and from Cleethorpes Mondays to Saturdays although run non stop on Sundays
Next stop to pass is Chassen Road opened in 1934 served by 1 every 2 hour Liverpool - Manchester Oxford Road services although no trains call there on Sundays
Passing Flixton opened in 1873 which once had a goods yard as well as a Station building however nowadays the Goods Yard was converted into a Car Park and the Station building was converted into a Pub and Restaurant in the 1990s however was destroyed by fire in 1998 before being completely demolished in 2001.
Our next stop is Irlam which has had several renames since opening in 1873 as Irlam before becoming Irlam and Cadishead in 1879 however the present station dates from being re-sited in March 1893 due to the construction of the nearby Manchester Ship Canal.
Although what is unusual is that the Manchester Platform is actually on the wrong side of the station building mainly due to deviation of the line itself at the time of being re-sited.
it was renamed again in 1954 as Irlam for Cadishead before finally becoming Irlam in 1974
The former station building was brought back into use in 2015 as a station themed cafe although rather surprisingly is mostly unstaffed.
Next stop to pass through is Glazebrook which is open Monday to Saturdays with no trains on Sundays
After that we arrive into Birchwood which was a later addition opening in July 1981 which the only recent addition was the footbridge with step free access which dates from 2014.
Next passing through Padgate which is unstaffed
Our next stop is Warrington Central one of 3 stations in Warrington with the other to the West known as Warrington West whilst the other is to the South on the West Coast Main Line of Warrington Bank Quay.
All Northern, Transpennine Express and East Midlands Railway services call here.
It was first open only to Goods traffic in June 1873 before opening to passengers 2 months later as Warrington before renaming Warrington Central in 1875 with goods traffic ceasing in 1965.
After Warrington Central we cross over the WCML and pass through the recently opened Warrington West which opened in December 2019.
Passing Widnes which is served by Northern and East Midlands Railway
After Halewood we pass slowly through Hunts Cross which is the terminus for Merseyrail's Northern Line services from Southport via Liverpool Central
Curving right we pass Northern's Allerton Depot before joining up with the West Coast Main Line arriving into our final intermediate stop at Liverpool South Parkway
Passing through West Allerton and Mossley Hill we start our final approach into Liverpool Lime Street coming alongside the Chat Moss Line via Newton-le-Willows
Passing Edge Hill we head towards our final stop of Liverpool Lime Street via Platform 7 which opened in 1840 replacing the former terminus of Liverpool Crown Street.
Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS
Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
• JJD - Adventure | Glit...
Filmed on Wednesday May 15th 2024 on iPhone 15 Pro and edited on iMovie
#transpennineexpress #class185 #manchester #liverpool