Chester to Birkenhead Dock Home

The Chester & Birkenhead Railway Company was incorporated in 1837 despite different railway companies seeking to control access to the Mersey ports of Birkenhead and Liverpool. The cost of getting the Act exceeded £10,500 and the estimated cost of the line was given as £250,000. Construction commenced in May 1838 but the final cost of the railway was about £513 000, over twice the original estimate

The Official Opening of the line in September 1840 saw the locomotive "The Wirral" leave Grange Lane Station Birkenhead, on the 50-minute journey to Chester, where cottages had been pressed into services as a station. Use of these cottages continued until Chester General Station opened in 1848

Initially the line was single track, but by 1847 much of the route had been doubled, whilst in 1902 traffic growth required the provision of four tracks but only basic facilities were provided at intermediate stations

By 1885, twenty-two passenger trains, ran from Chester to Birkenhead each day. There were, however, almost twice as many goods trains. By 1890 about twenty-seven coal trains, consisting of over twenty eight-ton wagons, passed through the intermediate stations, each day

Steam was replaced by diesel in 1966, which were in turn replaced by electric trains in the early 1990s. This development meant that it was possible to travel right into Liverpool City Centre without changing trains at an intermediate station

Chester to Birkenhead Railway (1840 - )

Chester to Birkenhead Railway
(1840 - )