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St Helens Central (GCR) railway station served the town of St Helens, England with passenger traffic between 1900 and 1952 and goods traffic until 1965. It was the terminus of a branch line from Lowton St Mary's.^[4]^[5]

History

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The Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, which ran from a junction with the Wigan Junction Railways (WJR) to the north of Lowton St Mary's,^[6]opened for goods and mineral traffic in 1895, but passenger services did not commence until January 1900.^[7] The formal opening was on 2 January^[8] with public services beginning the following day,^[9] being operated by the Great Central Railway,^[6] which was already operating the WJR.^[10] Most services ran through to Manchester Central.^[11] The station opened with the commencement of public passenger services on 3 January 1900 and was originally named St Helens.^[12]

Overall, the station and goods facilities covered 8 acres (3.2 ha), however the passenger section only consisted of one platform with a somewhat rudimentary wooden canopy shelter (compared to the brick-built booking office). This was in stark contrast to the comprehensive goods sidings, weighbridge, travelling crane and large goods shed. Rail access to this complex was from the north-eastern corner via a double track bridge over Standish Street. The line then divided into two, the northern branch proceeding into Pilkington's Cowley Hill Plate Glass Works being purely for goods traffic,^[13] the other line running to the east. This crossed the LNWR line at Pocket Nook on a single line viaduct. It was originally intended to be double track, but due to difficulties in obtaining sufficient land and clearances plus rising costs, the viaduct was eventually forced to be completed as a single line structure.

Similar financial considerations caused the line to terminate at St. Helens. The original plan was for the line to continue westwards towards Liverpool via proposed stations at Dentons Green, Knowsley and Croxteth Park to a junction with the CLC Lines at Fazakerley, from which point there would be easy access to both Southport and Liverpool.^[14]

The station was renamed St Helens Central on 1 March 1949 but closed to passenger traffic three years later on 3 March 1952.^[12] It continued to be used for goods until 4 January 1965, when it closed completely.^[15] In 1987 this name was given to St Helens Shaw Street station on the Liverpool–Wigan line of the former London and North Western Railway.^[12]

Services

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In 1922 six "down" (towards St Helens) trains called at the station, on Mondays to Saturdays. These called at all stations from Manchester Central to St Helens via Glazebrook and Culcheth. No trains called on Sundays.^[16]

By 1948 four trains plied between St Helens Central and Manchester Central, calling at all stations, Monday to Friday, reduced to three on Saturdays. No trains called on Sundays.^[17]

A fuller selection of public and working timetables has now been published. Among other things this suggests that Sunday services ran until 1914, but had ceased by 1922 never to return.^[18]

From 1952 until 5 October 1963 some race day specials to Haydock Park had deposited their passengers at the racecourse then travelled to St Helens for servicing, turning and to await their turn to return in the evening.^[19] Others appear to have done the same at Ashton-in-Makerfield.^[20]^[21]

Enthusiasts' railtours travelled the line on 29 September 1956^[22]^[23]and 21 September 1963.^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]

Remaining structures

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Nothing remains of the station; a wall section of the bridge at Standish Street is still in existence, as is the engine shed - however for many years this has been part of a factory building. Sections of heavily overgrown viaduct abutments and piers further east still remain but as for the immediate station, goods yard, booking office, signal box, turntable and track, these are long since gone, having been replaced by a large car park, Police station, offices and court buildings.^[1]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Terminus		Great Central Railway Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway		Haydock Line and station closed

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St Helens Central

Station frontage on opening day

General informationLocationSt Helens, St Helens
EnglandCoordinates

53.4553°N 2.7371°W Grid reference

SJ511956Platforms1^[1]Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyLiverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire RailwayPre-groupingGreat Central RailwayPost-groupingLondon and North Eastern RailwayKey dates3 January 1900Station opened as Great Central Railways Central Station1 March 1949Renamed St Helens Central3 March 1952Station closed to passengers^[2]^[3]4 January 1965Station closed completely

Location

The Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, was formed in 1889, but no services ran until 1895 and then only freight. Passenger services did not start until 1900. It incorporated the St Helens and Wigan Junction Railway.^[1] It was taken over by the Great Central Railway in 1906.^[2]

History

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St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1885

St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1886

St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1889

The railway was incorporated by the St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1885(48 & 49 Vict. c. cxxi) and the St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1886 (50 Vict. c. xxxiii) to enable the construction of a line from St Helens to Lowton (eight miles) and St Helens to Liverpool (ten miles). The lines had share capital of £210,000 and £340,000 respectively. In 1887 a prospectus was published inviting subscriptions for the full 550,000 pounds.^[3] The first sod was cut on 25 January 1888 by the Earl of Derby on the site of what became St Helens Central railway station (Great Central Railway). In July 1889, the St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. xci) extended the completion time until July 1893. The opening ceremony took place on 2 January 1900.^[4]

The original intention was to connect to the Cheshire Lines Committee North Liverpool Extension Line at Fazakerley junction, to form a route to Huskisson Dock and Southport, but nothing ever came of the scheme west of St Helens.

Henry Seton-Karr was chairman of the railway both at the time of the 1887 prospectus and at its opening.^[5] In 1888, the railway`s solicitor was Robert William Perks.^[6]

Route

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The line ran from St Helens Central (GCR) railway station to Lowton St Mary's.^[7]

Closure

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The line closed to passengers in 1952. It was reduced in stages as freight traffic ebbed and flowed. The key milestones were:

1965 line closed and lifted west of Lowton Metals, Ashton (inclusive).
1968 line reinstated west of Lowton Metals to serve a new oil depot at Haydock
1968 new "Haydock Branch Curve" built to connect the line to the WCML north of Golborne
1968 line east of the new connection closed and lifted (the bridge over the WCML was removed in 1971)
1975 passenger trains ran to five race meetings, using Ashton station, experiment not repeated
1983 Haydock oil depot traffic lost to road, line cut back to Lowton Metals, Haydock.
1987 Lowton Metals ceased trading, line cut back to Golborne Colliery headshunt
1987 Kelbit opened rail-served business at Edge Green, using trackbed of Edge Green Colliery branch
1989 Golborne Colliery closed, line cut back to headshunt for the Kelbit traffic
after 2000 the Kelbit site was taken over by Hanson as their "Ashton" plant
In 2011 the site was purchased by PF Jones Ltd and began work to restore the Kelbit rail line

In 2015 very occasional trains still served the Hanson plant.

On 7 March 2015 an enthusiasts' excursion titled "Sabrina's Tea Train" traversed the line.^[8]

A quarter-mile headshunt which ends at bufferstops approx 50 yards east of Bridge 13 over Edge Green Lane is the sole remaining section of the original route in use.

Re-opening

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After purchasing the land surrounding the line at Edge Green in 2011, PF Jones Ltd worked with Hansons to restore the Kelbit line off the Haydock Branch Curve. The Kelbit line was reopened in 2018 and is used by Heidelberg (formerly Hanson) to transfer raw materials from Shap Quarry, Cumbria to distribute across the north west.

Between and Golborne and Glazebrook High Speed 2 proposed use of an alignment similar to the disused line in Phase 2b.^[9] This "Golborne Link" was removed from HS2 plans before the northern leg was abandoned by the Conservative government in 2023.

References

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^ "St. Helens Central Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
^ Sweeney 2014, pp. 5–18
^ The Times, 19 October 1887, p.13
^ "Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway". Lancashire Faces & Places. 1 (6): 94–96. June 1901.
^ "Mr Henry Seton-Karr, MP". Lancashire Faces & Places. 1 (6): 86. June 1901.
^ Bradshaw`s Railway Manual, Shareholders Guide and Official Directory (1888 issue), p.295.
^ "Lowton St. Mary's Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
^ The Railtour Files, via SixBellsJunction
^ "HS2 Phase 2b: Lowton to Bamfurlong route key plan" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2020.