West Lancashire Railway


The West Lancashire Railway ran northeast from Southport to Preston in northwest England.

History

The Act of Parliament that established the company received Royal Assent on 17 August 1871. The first sod was cut by Alderman Samuel Swire, the Mayor of Southport, on 18 April 1873, and construction began, but petered-out within a few months. During 1876, Edward Holden joined the board "and agreed to finance the railway from his personal fortune", and construction was re-commenced. Edward Holden was the younger son of Sir Isaac Holden. The line was opened on 15 September 1882.
A branch was constructed from Penwortham to the Blackburn line at Whitehouse Junction allowing direct services from East Lancashire Railway to Southport.
In 1881 a further branch was constructed from east of Hesketh Bank station southwards to Tarleton Lock on the Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal by the River Douglas. This was mainly intended for goods, but a passenger service did run on the branch until 1912/3. The branch closed completely in 1930.

Expansion, bankruptcy and take-over

The WLR also sponsored the Preston Junction Railway, opened in 1887 to provide greater access to Liverpool and in an attempt to forge a commercial alliance with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. At one time the line featured as a potential alternative route to Blackpool. The line was never successful and its construction bankrupted the West Lancashire Railway. Finally in 1897 the two railways were taken over by their competitor, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
Up to the take-over, the WLR used its own stations at each terminus. These were Central station in Southport and Fishergate Hill in Preston. The new owners built a west-to-north connecting chord at Whitehouse Junction which enabled them to redirect all of the WLR passenger trains into their own Preston (ELR) Station. Likewise at the Southport end, passenger trains were rerouted into the adjacent Chapel Street Station. Both WLR termini became goods depôts with that at Preston seeing occasional passenger use when it played host to special services during the Preston Guild.

Electrification

From 22 March 1904 the line from to Southport was electrified using a third rail to provide an electric service all the way to Liverpool. From 15 February 1909, electrification was extended to ; most electric trains between Southport and Crossens called at Meols Cop and reversed out.

Closure

Hundred End station closed in 1962. Passenger services, including the electric ones, ceased in September 1964 and most of the line was closed. The line was quickly lifted beyond Hesketh Park in 1965. A goods service to Hesketh Park continued until November 1967, and the remaining track was lifted in late 1968- though a small stump remained in place as far as Roe Lane in Southport until the very early 1970s as part of the complex of Meols Cop electric depot.