# Sandhills railway station

Sandhills railway station is a railway station in Kirkdale, Liverpool, England, located to the north of the city centre on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. It was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and now stands at the junction between the branch to Southport and the branch to Ormskirk and Kirkby.
The two platforms form a single island, overlooking the River Mersey on one side, and the former industrial area of Commercial Road on the other. It is also used by football fans heading for Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. matches: a bus service called Soccerbus runs between the station and the football stadiums on match-days only.
Previously passengers had to walk up a ramp to reach the ticket office, then through a subway and up ramps to reach the platform. Now the ramp remains, with alternate staircase. Leading to a lift directly into the booking office, accessing both sides of the island platforms.

## History

The station was opened in 1854 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The first mention of it was in the July 1854 edition of Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide for Great Britain and Ireland, when the station was still called Liverpool North Docks. Shortly afterwards, its name was shortened to North Docks, before being changed in its entirety to Sandhills in 1857. (The station was also called Sandhills for North Docks on some occasions.)
The station was located on the north side of Sandhills Lane. There were two platforms, one for the easternmost of the twin double-track lines and an island platform to the west, which was sandwiched between the main lines. There was also a further pair of tracks on this side of the station, which formed a loop but did not serve it, with the station building being to the west of these tracks.
By 9 July 1881 the platforms had been moved from north to south of Sandhills Lane. By 1890 there were four of them, one on each side of the four-track running lines and an island platform serving the two inner tracks. The outer platforms had waiting rooms, each with a small canopy over the platform in front. The ticket office was located south of the eastern platform.
By 1966, the island platform also acquired a waiting room with a small canopy. Before the 1974 refurbishment, the outer platforms were made of wood on concrete supports, while the island platform had concrete slabs as the platform surface on concrete supports; the latter was the only one that remained open after 1974.
The L&YR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922, which in turn was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
Nationalisation followed in 1948, and in 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail Network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatised in 1995).
In 2006, a major redevelopment plan for the station was proposed, which included the construction of a completely new booking hall and greatly improved facilities on the platform. On 24 April 2007, an agreement was reached for £6 million worth of improvements to the station. In November 2007, it was announced that the station would be closed for refurbishment from 17 November 2007 to March 2008. A large canopy was erected, originally intended to cover the full length of the platform, but now covers approximately half. In addition, a dedicated bus-rail interchange was built, improving transport beyond the station to localities such as Kirkdale, Anfield and Everton. The opening date was extended until July 2008, when the station reopened in a partially completed state. Work on the station was fully completed in early 2009.
Between March and December 2024, the station's capacity was increased as part of the Liverpool Waters development and in anticipation of the opening of Everton F.C.'s new Bramley-Moore Stadium. The first phase of work included the development of a fan zone in the car park to cope with large crowds on match days, with further changes planned in the future.

## Facilities

The station is staffed 15 minutes before the first train and 15 minutes after the last. There are toilets, CCTV on the platform, and a ticket office. There are departure and arrival screens on the platform for passenger information. Each of the two platforms has covered seating. The station has no car park; however, there is a bicycle rack with 10 spaces. The station is fully wheelchair accessible, and access to the station is via lifts and ramps.

## Services

Off-peak service frequency is as follows:
* 4 trains per hour (tph) to Southport
* 4 tph to Ormskirk
* 4 tph to Headbolt Lane
* 12 tph to Liverpool Central
** of which 4 tph continue to Hunts Cross
During late evenings and on Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph on the Ormskirk and Headbolt Lane lines. On Sundays, frequencies are reduced to 2 tph beyond Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross and to Southport, giving a total of 6 tph from all lines between Sandhills and Liverpool Central.

## Gallery

* Sandhills station in 1979
* The main entrance, viewed from platform 1.
* Platform 1, with Alexandra Tower in the distance.
* A Merseyrail Class 508 arrives with a service from Liverpool.
* A Merseyrail Class 507 arrives with a service from Liverpool.

## Land history

In the early 19th century, the Sandhills estate was bought by Liverpool lawyer and property speculator John Leigh (1752-1823). Not only did he build a "handsome house, where he had beautiful gardens, complete with hothouses and conservatories", but he also converted much of the pasture land into the clay pits and brickworks needed for Liverpool's rapid growth - he is said to have lowered the ground level by seven to eight feet (well over two metres). His son, John Shaw Leigh (1791-1871), reaped the greatest profit, selling plots piecemeal at huge profits to create the land needed for the expanding docks and railways.