Merseyrail is the brand for suburban and commuter lines around Liverpool, now operated by a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Dutch state railways.
Most of the network is electrified to a 3rd rail 750 volt system.
As well as those hard-core, central underground sections, it also includes some surprisingly sylvan stations.
Including Edge Hill, the world's oldest railway station that's still in operation, and which dates all the way back to 1836:
Merseyrail operates a fleet of EMUs that date back to British Rail days:
Based on designs intended to use the small tunnels of the Great Northern lines into Moorgate, these trains are squatter than most in Britain, the low roofs originally needed to clear the tiny tunnels.
For 1970s vintage equipment, they look surprisingly modern -- a result of their very simple design.
Although old they're rather effective workhorses, particularly on heavy commuter rail like this.
They look as happily at home in the Victorian suburban stations as they do in the modern central ones.
That's in no small part due to the rather effective livery they wear -- a neat combination of silver-grey and yellow.
I've never really explored the Merseyrail system, my infrequent visits to Liverpool more usually being focussed on a quick "in and out" to some cultural event or other.
But it's calling me. Maybe in the spring it'd be nice to do an expedition. I've still got lots of 1950s electrification-era stations I want to see in Cheshire...
8 comments:
Welcome to Merseyrail Electrics - the favoured route into Liverpool from Wirral, North Wales and the Marches! Seems you spent your day on "the other side" - be sure to venture this side next time and enjoy the 1930s 'modernist' stations built by the LMS on the old Wirral Railway lines (you'll love Hoylake), and the glories of the top end of the old GWR main line from Chester to Rock Ferry (which still manages to have an air of the GWR about it despite alterations) and the nice acid-etched glass at the old HQ of the Mersey Railway at Birkenhead Central - today's bureaucracy would have required a tower block! The old pumping station at Hamilton Square merits a visit if you can: by allowing seepage the tunnel is under much less strain than if it was totally watertight.
I'm glad to see you venturing into our world of Merseyrail! It's a very undervalued network - one of the most efficient in the UK, and ferrying thousands around the region with very little fuss. The Underground stations are a bit dated now but they work, and there are some really beautiful suburban stations. The huge Liverpool South Parkway is also worth seeing - a very modern, spacious station with a bus interchange and car parking that's helped to really change passenger patterns in the south of the city.
Blimey: I hadn't realised that Merseyrail had such a cult following!
Not altogether surprised, actually. That yellow is very seductive.
Some people are just easily pleased ;-)
It's an excellent system - just check its record for punctuality and lack of cancellations (despite last night and this evening on thr Chester line!). And it runs over the former tracks of GWR, L&Y, LM&SR, Mersey Railway and CLC: that must be quite a record. It's a system on which you can ride without worry of misbehaviour at any hour given the notoriously - and I reckon happily - rigorous nature of by-law enforcement. Full marks to it!
Hi Merseytart. Hadn't expected to see you here, but then again, with the combination of trains 'n' winkies, it was perhaps only to be expected.
I'm here for the trains *cough*
It's good to see that in this age of austerity the Chester service is to be doubled from next month to every 15 minutes (from every 30 minutes)
Post a Comment