page_title: Wirral line
section_title: The Big Four
hierarchical_section_title: Wirral line / History / The Big Four
caption_attribution_description: Railway Junctions in Bidston, Birkenhead &amp; Rock Ferry pre grouping
context_page_description: The Wirral line is one of two commuter railway lines operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
  The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with branches to New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port. Beneath Liverpool, the line follows a clockwise circular route in a single-track tunnel called the Loop, built in the early 1970s.
  The line was created by the amalgamation of several historic railways, and has carried its present name since the opening of the Merseyrail network by Queen Elizabeth II on 25 October 1978 during the British Rail period. The Wirral line is fully electrified with a DC third rail, and has existed in its current form since May 1994 with the start of electric services to Ellesmere Port. A total of 34 stations are served, with connections available to mainline services at Liverpool Lime Street and Chester. The line also connects with the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network at Liverpool Central and Moorfields.
context_section_description: The Railways Act 1921 took effect on 1 January 1923, when most railway companies in Britain were grouped into one of the Big Four. The Wirral Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) company, while the GCR, which it met at Bidston, was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The Birkenhead Joint Railway and the Mersey Railway were both unaffected by the grouping of 1923 and remained in existence until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948.
  The Wirral Railway had considered electrification since 1900, but plans were not taken any further until 1935, when increasing traffic prompted the LMS to revive the scheme. Authorisation was granted for the West Kirby and New Brighton lines, and work was completed by February 1938. The LMS had adopted a 650 V DC third-rail system which differed from the fourth-rail system of the Mersey Railway. To allow through services to run to Liverpool, all trains had to be able to operate with both systems, and automatic changeover devices were installed between each set of rails at Birkenhead Park. The LMS ordered nineteen three-car units to operate their new electric services, which were later to become the Class 503 under the TOPS numbering system. The vehicles were built in Birmingham by Metropolitan Cammell and the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, and were maintained at Birkenhead Central TMD. Station improvement and modernisation work also accompanied the electrification work at West Kirby, Hoylake, Meols, Moreton, Leasowe and New Brighton.
  With Mersey Railway trains able to use the LMS electrification system and vice versa, on 13 March 1938 the Mersey Railway was given operation of the line from Birkenhead Park to New Brighton in exchange for LMS running powers between Birkenhead Park and Liverpool Central, thus removing the need for passengers to change at Birkenhead Park for travel to Liverpool. The first direct services from West Kirby and New Brighton to Liverpool Central ran on 14 March 1938, the LMS operating the West Kirby services and the Mersey Railway running the New Brighton services. To keep LMS and Mersey Railway workers familiar with each other's routes, on Sundays the LMS worked the Rock Ferry services, and the Mersey Railway trains ran to West Kirby. The Mersey Railway also ran additional services to West Kirby on bank holidays to cater for day-trippers.
  During the Second World War, the Liverpool Blitz of 1940-1941 caused severe damage to the Mersey Railway. While overground services were disrupted on several occasions, underground services always continued, despite damage to station buildings. The explosion of a parachute mine just west of Birkenhead Park station demolished the carriage shed that was located there; damaged vehicles were sent to Wolverton works and extensively rebuilt. The importance of a rail connection between Liverpool and Birkenhead during the war was such that four redundant six-car trains from the Hammersmith & City line of the former Metropolitan Railway were reconditioned by the London Passenger Transport Board and transferred to temporary LMS ownership; however, these trains never saw passenger service on the Wirral, despite being stored at Birkenhead North and Hoylake.
caption: A Railway Clearing House map of the railways in Birkenhead and Bidston prior to the 1923 grouping.
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