page_title: Liverpool South Parkway railway station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Liverpool South Parkway railway station / History
caption_attribution_description: English: South Parkway. Liverpool's new park and ride with train, bus, and airport links.
context_page_description: Liverpool South Parkway station is a railway station and bus interchange in the Garston district of Liverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link, Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of Speke, as well as providing an interchange between main line services and the Merseyrail rapid transit/commuter rail network.
  The station is located towards the southern end of Merseyrail's Northern Line and on the junction of two main lines: the City Line from Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington and the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line to London via Crewe.
  Allerton Traction Maintenance Depot is situated to the immediate east of the station.
context_section_description: The station was built at a crossing point between two railway lines that had until then been served by separate stations. The first was the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line from Liverpool Central to Manchester via Warrington Central, which ran from west to east. The second was the line built by the St Helens Railway from Liverpool Lime Street to Warrington Bank Quay, which crossed from northwest to southeast. The latter route became part of the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line when it was connected to a new route from Crewe via the newly built Runcorn Railway Bridge. The original line to Warrington Bank Quay is now closed to passenger trains. The two lines were served by two separate stations in the area, respectively Garston and Allerton (though the latter was also located in Garston).
  The first proposals for an interchange station at Garston were made in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Merseyrail semi-underground network was being planned. At the time, the suggestion was that the new station and Broad Green would be interchanges between long-distance trains and trains on an outer orbital line (the North Liverpool Extension Line). However, the latter line closed in 1972. The line from Liverpool Central to Garston was also closed in 1972, with trains on the CLC route being diverted to Liverpool Lime Street. The route from Liverpool Central to Garston was reopened in 1978 as part of the Merseyrail Northern Line. After 1983, this route was extended to Hunts Cross, the next station to the east.
  As the orbital route had been closed, the impetus to eventually complete the station was to improve public transport access to the expanding Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and also to provide new journey opportunities for rail passengers in south Liverpool by giving easy interchange between Northern Line, City Line and West Coast Main Line services.
  Construction began in 2004. Allerton station closed in July 2005 and the new station was built on its site. The concourse, bus station and car park were built on land that was once the home of South Liverpool F.C. An information board situated on the footpath towards the main road explains the history of the site. The station opened on 11 June 2006, the day after Garston station closed.
  At the time of opening, the Merseyrail City Line service (which had been hourly at the former Allerton station) was increased to half-hourly. The station also became an additional stop on the Liverpool-Birmingham service (then operated by Central Trains). From 11 December 2006, the Monday-Saturday evening service on the Northern Line was increased to run every 15 minutes, instead of half-hourly as previously.
  Initially, many long-distance services omitted Liverpool South Parkway from their timetables, however more train services were gradually introduced. In December 2008 the Birmingham service was doubled in frequency, and East Midlands Trains services began calling at the station.
  In December 2010 a further service was introduced, when First TransPennine Express services added the station as an extra stop on their services from Liverpool to York and Scarborough.
  In May 2011, Blackpool North services which operated from Lime Street were extended to start and terminate at Liverpool South Parkway. The service is operated by Northern Trains and does not call at stations between South Parkway and Lime Street. The service from Lime Street is unchanged. Trains travelling from Blackpool North to Liverpool South Parkway have a 15-minute dwelling time at Liverpool Lime Street.
  In early 2017 Liverpool South Parkway served as a temporary hub for national trains whilst Lime Street was closed due to a landslide. In September of the year, platform 4 was temporarily extended by 150 metres to allow intercity services to serve the station whilst Lime Street station is shut due to refurbishment work. In mid 2018 the station again acted as a hub whilst Lime Street was upgraded.
caption: Exterior shot of Liverpool South Parkway
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