Ormskirk railway station
Ormskirk railway station
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Ormskirk railway station

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Ormskirk railway station

Ormskirk railway station in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, is a cross-platform interchange between Merseyrail services from Liverpool Central and Northern Trains services from Preston on the Ormskirk branch line, 12+34 miles (20.5 km) northeast of Liverpool. The station building and three arch road bridge are both Grade II listed structures.

The station was built by the East Lancashire Railway's Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Junction section, and opened on 2 April 1849. From 13 May 1859, the station was owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. From 1 January 1923 the station was owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. British Railways nationalised all railways on 1 January 1948 and the station became part of the London Midland Region.

A branch line to Rainford Junction via Skelmersdale was opened by the ELR in March 1858 shortly before it was absorbed by the L&YR – this left the main line to Preston just to the north of the station. The line from Liverpool was subsequently electrified in 1913, with the suburban EMUs using a bay platform at the southern end of the station to keep them clear of the busy main line to Preston, which was used as the L&Y's principal route to East Lancashire, the Fylde, Cumbria and Scotland.

The original Liverpool terminus of the line (Liverpool Exchange) was closed in 1977, when the route became one of the three branches of the new Northern Line and trains began running to a new underground terminus at Liverpool Central. Since 1996, it has been part of the Merseyrail franchise currently (2016) run by Serco-Abellio.

The current station consists of a single platform. An interesting characteristic is how the electric Merseyrail track and the unelectrified Northern track is on the same alignment, with electric and diesel trains using opposite ends of the same platform. The line is cut by a large buffer separating the track sections. Passengers wishing to transfer from an electric train to diesel train walk a dozen yards or so along the same platform to move between trains. Until 2023, a similar layout existed at Kirkby station.

Prior to the Beeching Report of 1963 and the subsequent restructuring of the rail network, there were two main through platforms. The electric Liverpool commuter trains would pull into the southern bay platform. This practice ended following the withdrawal of through trains between Liverpool and Preston via this route. Local services from Preston, East Lancashire and Blackpool towards Liverpool were either withdrawn or terminated at Ormskirk from October 1969 with the last through trains running on 3 May 1970. From 4 May 1970 the line was split, with all trains using the former Liverpool platform (the Preston-bound platform remains, however is disused). The bay platform is now a footpath leading to the bus station.

Only a single Merseyrail third-rail electric line runs into the platform, the route towards Liverpool becomes double immediately outside the station. The line from Ormskirk to Preston has been single track since the summer of 1970, except for a passing loop at Rufford.

The former link between Ormskirk and Southport, via the Burscough Curves, was closed in 1962. The Skelmersdale Branch has also been lost, having closed to passengers in 1956 and to all traffic seven years later. It was lifted in 1968, though the Burscough curves remained extant until the mid-1980s.

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