Bootle Oriel Road railway station

Bootle Oriel Road
General information
Location	Bootle, Sefton England
Coordinates	53°26′48″N 2°59′45″W / 53.4468°N 2.9957°W / 53.4468; -2.9957
Grid reference	SJ339949
Managed by	Merseyrail
Transit authority	Merseytravel
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BOT
Fare zone	C1/C3
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1876 (1876-05-01)	Station opened as Bootle
2 June 1924	Renamed to Bootle Oriel Road
Passengers
2018/19	0.787 million
2019/20	0.843 million
2020/21	0.224 million
2021/22	0.504 million
2022/23	0.584 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Bootle Oriel Road railway station is a railway station in Bootle, Merseyside, England. It is situated near the town's Victorian civic centre, opposite Bootle Town Hall, although the surrounding area is now largely residential. It is located on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.

History[edit]

Bootle Oriel Road railway station was opened as Bootle on 1 May 1876 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) on its Liverpool to Southport line (the former Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway) to replace two stations, Bootle Village and Miller's Bridge, it was sited between them.^[1] The station was constructed by Dransfield and Company at a cost of £6,684 (equivalent to £794,000 in 2023^[a]).^[2]

The station was built largely of "yellow glazed bricks with an over-abundance of roofing supported on numerous iron columns". There are four platforms, the centre ones being a wide island, connected by a subway. the booking office faces onto Oriel Road and there is a cab rank.^[3]

There an additional two tracks that avoid the station on the western side behind a wall descending to Bankfield Goods Yard.^[4]

The station was renamed to Bootle Oriel Road on 2 June 1924.^[1]

Most of the services through the station were going to or from Liverpool Exchange and Southport, there were additional commuter services on this line that terminated at Blundellsands and Crosby prior to electrification in 1904 and Hall Road afterwards.^[5][6] From 1906 to 1951 services also ran through the station on a route from Liverpool Exchange to Aintree.^[7][8]

Passengers from the London and North Western Railway's Bootle Balliol Road station could access the station via a long sloping footpath and a short walk along Oriel Road.^[3]

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948.^[9]

In 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatised in 1995).^[10]

Facilities[edit]

There is a booking office where staff are available 15 minutes before the first train until 15 minutes after the last train. Both platforms can be accessed via ramps or lifts. There is car parking for 4 cars and secure cycle storage for 24 cycles, plus toilets and a payphone.^[11] Train running information is provided via automated announcements, digital CIS displays, customer help points on each platform and timetable posters.^[12]

Services[edit]

Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday, to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.^[13]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Bootle New Strand towards Southport		Merseyrail Northern Line		Bank Hall towards Hunts Cross
	Historical railways
Marsh Lane towards Southport		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway		Liverpool North Docks towards Liverpool Exchange
Marsh Lane towards Aintree		Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway North Mersey Branch		Liverpool North Docks towards Liverpool Exchange

Gallery[edit]

• 
  Bootle Oriel Road in 1962. The two extra tracks on the left are the goods lines from Bankfield.
• 
  A Merseyrail Class 508 departs from the station.
• 
  The Liverpool sculpture outside the station.
• 
  Special access to the new footbridge.

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Bradshaw, George (2011) [December 1895]. Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland December 1895: A Reprint of the Classic Timetable Complete with Period Advertisements and Shipping Connections to All Parts. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-908174-11-6. OCLC 832579861.
• Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
• Ferneyhough, Frank (1975). The History of Railways in Britain. Reading: Osprey. ISBN 0-85045-060-8. OCLC 2120140.
• Gahan, John W. (1985). Seaport to Seaside: Lines to Southport and Ormskirk - 13 decades of trains and travel. ISBN 978-0-907768-07-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
• Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4352-4.
• Mason, Eric (1975). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in the Twentieth Century (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan.
• Pettitt, Gordon; Comfort, Nicholas (2015). The Regional Railways Story. ISBN 978-0-86093-663-3.
• Quick, Michael (2023) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.05. Railway & Canal Historical Society.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bootle Oriel Road railway station.

• Train times and station information for Bootle Oriel Road railway station from National Rail
• Station information for Bootle Oriel Road railway station from Merseyrail