Ex–LYR Southport–Preston Route Closure?

[Chrius56000]

Does anyone know why the ex–LYR Southport–Preston route was selected for closure, even though it served more communities than the Southport–Wigan route that remains open?

Apart from the Southport district of Meols Cop which retained its station, the Southport–Wigan line passes through miles of what my sister refers to as "sprout fields!" and the two stations between Meols Cop and Burscough Bridge, Bescar Lane and New Lane, are in the middle of nowhere!

Apart from Hoole, which was particularly badly situated for both Much Hoole and Little Hoole, being nearly a mile from either and some distance down a lane from the remote (estuary) side of the A59 Longton Bypass roundabout, most ot the closed stations on the Southport–Preston line were reasonably near to the communities they served!

The "Disused Stations" pages for this line does mention that B.R. (L.M.R.) was considering closing this line as early as 1959, and apart from Crossens and Banks, the stations on this line never received L.M.R. totem signage, altho' a photo of Hoole Station on its "Disused Stations" does appear to show a B.R. (L.M.R.) enamel station entrance sign – I presume this would have been maroon in colour!

(Hundred End, which was in the middle of fields and greenhouses, did close two years before the rest of the line in mid–1962).

Would this line have remained open if B.R. had introduced DMUs and de–staffed the stations?

Chris Williams

 

[Helvellyn]

Wasn't it more about Southport - Manchester traffic and this route being one (along with Manchester - Blackpool) that saw 'Club Trains'?

 

[Merseyrailfan]

Surely The Southport to Preston line is more so in middle of fields than Southport and Manchester Line, not saying the existence of Bescar Lane and New Lane is justified, it really has no point staying open, also I think there would be more traffic on Southport to Wigan section, Off topic slightly , Beeching earmarked the Exchange to Southport electrics to be withdrawn in 1963, but I think that one dropped quietly, due to that lane having good passenger amounts. But Southport to Preston line was quite easy for BR Bosses to close as that closed in I think 1964? I don’t know if electric service to Crossens closed at same time or lasted few more years. It was definitely shut by 1969/70.

 

[Magdalia]

The line closed in September 1964 at the end of the summer timetable.

In addition to local traffic it was also the route in and out of Southport for excursion traffic coming from the Blackburn/Burnley area and from the other side of the Pennines over Copy Pit. This traffic withered away after Beeching because one of the first things he did was to withdraw most of the rolling stock used on such trains.

Recently I was surprised to discover that the early 1960s excursions from East of the Pennines to Southport via this route included some diesel hauled trains, but pictures of these between Preston and Southport are hard to find.

 

[Andy873]

Does anyone know why the ex–LYR Southport–Preston route was selected for closure, even though it served more communities than the Southport–Wigan route that remains open?

A very good question.

I can't answer it exactly, but as most already know on here I've spent a good few years researching my old branch line (North Lancs loop). To help me. I purchased three passenger working time tables covering summer 1962, winter '63 and summer '64 and I noticed something that stuck out like a sore thumb...

With only one exception (the route from Accrington to Bury and Manchester) all the other lines that were later lifted or made goods only were serviced by steam locos only - no DMU's, and that included Southport to Preston. All the other routes were by now DMU's.

There were several things going on pre Beeching too, you have the branch lines committee, That sounds a positive name but in fact they were there to identify poorly performing branch lines. Their remit was to recommend either to make these lines goods only or closure. This is what happened to my old branch in 1957, they withdrew the regular passenger services.

Next up, the 1955 modernisation plan, as the name suggests it was written with the intent to modernise the railways and to replace steam locos with diesel or electric. It does make me wonder if there was a link here between replacing steam and the routes that were still steam only?

With regards to traffic from Southport to Preston, in my 1964 summer WTT I can see a good regular service between the two but as said, all pulled by steam not DMU's.

The route from East Lancashire to Southport skirting Preston was a very popular one especially in summer, indeed there were many summer day excursions to Southport back in the day.

As for the closure, here is a link to Warwick University's proposed closure minute meeting held with staff and the NUR. I got a copy from them involving the proposed closure of my old line and it was invaluable to my research!

Proposed withdrawal of local passenger and freight services between Southport (Chapel Street) - Preston.

Andy.

 

[Scouseinmanc]

I think what made it a good candidate for closure was the fact that the line was only electrified between Southport & Crossens. Had it been electrified all the way up to Preston, it may just have survived. Like the Exchange - Southport line

 

[Springs Branch]

With regards to traffic from Southport to Preston, in my 1964 summer WTT I can see a good regular service between the two but as said, all pulled by steam not DMU's.

Would this line have remained open if B.R. had introduced DMUs . . . .

There are plenty of photos of the Southport to Preston line in its final days, almost always showing the classic north-west England branch line formation of tank engine plus five ex-LMS non-corridor compartment carriages.

This scene reminds me of one of my former branch lines - the Wigan Central to Glazebrook & Manchester Central route, which also closed in 1964.

One account I've seen of the end of the Wigan Central branch states that, after BR had released closure plans, users made objections and representations suggesting BR could make operating economies by introducing DMUs in place of the normal steam loco + 5 in order to save the line.

The response was this couldn't possibly be done. There just weren't enough DMUs available.

After the closure proposal was officially approved, as if by magic, for the last few months until the axe finally fell DMUs started to make frequent appearances on the Wigan Central line - including some six-car formations - and the very modern-looking 4-character headcode (2H97) appeared on the front of trains over that steam-era backwater.

. . . . and de–staffed the stations?

Looking at old One-inch OS maps which show the Southport/Preston line, it seems there were quite a few road level crossings on the section across the flat plains between Crossens and Penwortham. Presumably in the 1960s those crossings which involved public roads would need either a supervising crossing keeper or a manned signal box.

So even with unstaffed stations and Paytrain DMUs, there would still be a lot of staff involved in operating the line. (I believe this was one of the nails in the coffin of the March to Spalding line across the Fens a couple of decades later)

The route from East Lancashire to Southport skirting Preston was a very popular one especially in summer, indeed there were many summer day excursions to Southport back in the day.

In addition to local traffic it was also the route in and out of Southport for excursion traffic coming from the Blackburn/Burnley area and from the other side of the Pennines over Copy Pit. This traffic withered away after Beeching because one of the first things he did was to withdraw most of the rolling stock used on such trains.

Recently I was surprised to discover that the early 1960s excursions from East of the Pennines to Southport via this route included some diesel hauled trains, but pictures of these between Preston and Southport are hard to find.

One of the thrusts of the Beeching Axe was closure of duplicate lines where any useful remaining traffic could be diverted to other routes. In the case of Southport/Preston via West Lancs this presumably meant, following closure:-

1) Passengers between Southport and Preston & points north thereof (including Blackpool) could go via Wigan (and be expected to do the short station change there).
2) Residual excursion and holiday traffic from the north and East Lancs directions could be diverted via Rufford, the Burscough North Curve and Burscough Bridge.

Certainly the number of day excursion and summer SO trains to the seaside was greatly diminished post-Beeching, but some did use the Burscough North Curve through the mid-1960s following closure of the West Lancs line. It was probably just as fast, if not faster, going that way (not that speed was a primary concern on those trains). I wonder if this is why no photos seem to exist of diesels running via Hoole?

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Does anyone know why the ex–LYR Southport–Preston route was selected for closure, even though it served more communities than the Southport–Wigan route that remains open?

Perhaps the simple answer is the existence, even back then, of commuter traffic to Manchester from the Southport line (which includes the intermediate stations of course). But no equivalent traffic on the Preston line. With a more positive outlook I daresay the Preston link could have survived but unfortunately the whole closure mentality gained heavy momentum at a certain point and it seems it was easier to justify individual closures rather than retentions. With so much time having now elapsed it's difficult to get a genuinely accurate contemporary economic picture for each and every line closed. Equally with hindsight it's pretty clear that excursion traffic was unlikely to provide meaningful revenue over the long-term.

 

[30907]

Back in the 50s and early 60s I doubt there would have been many commuters to Preston from the Southport area - St Annes was easier if you wanted to live on the coast - and the area between would have been even more predominantly market-gardening than it is today.
In general there was far less commuting by rail into and out of the medium-sized towns (and Preston still has hardly anything in the way of commuter railway).

 

[Andy873]

This scene reminds me of one of my former branch lines - the Wigan Central to Glazebrook & Manchester Central route, which also closed in 1964.

Warwick University also have the closure minutes for this one too:

Proposed withdrawal of local passenger and freight services between Wigan (Central) - Glazebrook.

Looking at old One-inch OS maps which show the Southport/Preston line, it seems there were quite a few road level crossings on the section across the flat plains between Crossens and Penwortham. Presumably in the 1960s those crossings which involved public roads would need either a supervising crossing keeper or a manned signal box.

That's a great spot about the level crossings, and I agree even with unstaffed stations the crossings would still have had to be staffed. This may or may not be the reason for closing the line but it does give BR an excuse.

One account I've seen of the end of the Wigan Central branch states that, after BR had released closure plans, users made objections and representations suggesting BR could make operating economies by introducing DMUs in place of the normal steam loco + 5 in order to save the line.

The response was this couldn't possibly be done. There just weren't enough DMUs available.

Looking around at the lines that were closed in my area (Lancashire) it's quite clear BR management were simply unprepared to try options.

A case in point, my old line (North Lacs loop). I've mention the following a few times now but in 1956 Mullards (Europe's largest supplier on TV tubes) were opening a new factory at Simonstone (on the loop line). They built the factory right next to the station there and asked BR if the 6.32 am train from Blackburn could leave 10 minutes earlier to accommodate up to 400 workers to get to the new factory. BR said it was impossible - the day the factory opened BR withdrew the 6.32's stop at Simonstone!

A year later BR said the line was loosing 10k a year and withdrew regular passenger services. Now I don't know how much say 300 - 400 employees travelling possibly 5 or 6 days a week would have brought in but it would have gone a good way to greatly reducing that 10k loss.

With a more positive outlook I daresay the Preston link could have survived but unfortunately the whole closure mentality gained heavy momentum at a certain point and it seems it was easier to justify individual closures rather than retentions.

Agreed, and with redundancies here, there and everywhere many employees probably didn't want rock the boat.

After the closure proposal was officially approved, as if by magic, for the last few months until the axe finally fell DMUs started to make frequent appearances on the Wigan Central line

A bit like the famous darts quiz programme of the 1980's "here's what you could have won"!

In the mid 1980's I decided that I would have a day out in Southport but was surprised to find out there was no rail service from Preston, even more so when I found out there used to be one. I had to go by bus instead, not what I wanted to do.

 

[Bevan Price]

There are plenty of photos of the Southport to Preston line in its final days, almost always showing the classic north-west England branch line formation of tank engine plus five ex-LMS non-corridor compartment carriages.

This scene reminds me of one of my former branch lines - the Wigan Central to Glazebrook & Manchester Central route, which also closed in 1964.

One account I've seen of the end of the Wigan Central branch states that, after BR had released closure plans, users made objections and representations suggesting BR could make operating economies by introducing DMUs in place of the normal steam loco + 5 in order to save the line.

The response was this couldn't possibly be done. There just weren't enough DMUs available.

After the closure proposal was officially approved, as if by magic, for the last few months until the axe finally fell DMUs started to make frequent appearances on the Wigan Central line - including some six-car formations - and the very modern-looking 4-character headcode (2H97) appeared on the front of trains over that steam-era backwater.

Looking at old One-inch OS maps which show the Southport/Preston line, it seems there were quite a few road level crossings on the section across the flat plains between Crossens and Penwortham. Presumably in the 1960s those crossings which involved public roads would need either a supervising crossing keeper or a manned signal box.

So even with unstaffed stations and Paytrain DMUs, there would still be a lot of staff involved in operating the line. (I believe this was one of the nails in the coffin of the March to Spalding line across the Fens a couple of decades later)



One of the thrusts of the Beeching Axe was closure of duplicate lines where any useful remaining traffic could be diverted to other routes. In the case of Southport/Preston via West Lancs this presumably meant, following closure:-

1) Passengers between Southport and Preston & points north thereof (including Blackpool) could go via Wigan (and be expected to do the short station change there).
2) Residual excursion and holiday traffic from the north and East Lancs directions could be diverted via Rufford, the Burscough North Curve and Burscough Bridge.

Certainly the number of day excursion and summer SO trains to the seaside was greatly diminished post-Beeching, but some did use the Burscough North Curve through the mid-1960s following closure of the West Lancs line. It was probably just as fast, if not faster, going that way (not that speed was a primary concern on those trains). I wonder if this is why no photos seem to exist of diesels running via Hoole?

1. The Wigan Central line did not have its own dedicated coaching stock; the fleet came from the 5 coach non-corridor stock sets in general use for CLC local services, which started to be withdrawn just before the Wigan branch closed. Hence, some use of dmus on the Wigan branch was probably unavoidable.

2. Sadly, the intermediate population between Southport and Preston was - and still is - insufficient to support a viable rail passenger service.

 

[furnessvale]

<SNIP>

2. Sadly, the intermediate population between Southport and Preston was - and still is - insufficient to support a viable rail passenger service.

But having agreed to withdraw the service, it appears that someone decided that the population centres of Preston and Southport themselves were also insufficient to support a rail service, a situation which exists to this day.

 

[L+Y]

2. Sadly, the intermediate population between Southport and Preston was - and still is - insufficient to support a viable rail passenger service.

While I'd broadly agree with this, I would guess that had the line survived, it'd probably be better patronised now than either the Southport-Wigan or Preston-Ormskirk lines. Banks, Hesketh Bank/Tarleton (effectively one large village nowadays), Longton and most of all Penwortham are substantial and fairly affluent places- really only Burscough is comparable for the other lines.

 

[billio]

The line closed in September 1964 at the end of the summer timetable.

In addition to local traffic it was also the route in and out of Southport for excursion traffic coming from the Blackburn/Burnley area and from the other side of the Pennines over Copy Pit. This traffic withered away after Beeching because one of the first things he did was to withdraw most of the rolling stock used on such trains.

Recently I was surprised to discover that the early 1960s excursions from East of the Pennines to Southport via this route included some diesel hauled trains, but pictures of these between Preston and Southport are hard to find.

There were timetabled trains to Southport from Rochdale via Bolton and Wigan. I believe some started in West Yorkshire.

 

[6Gman]

Looking around at the lines that were closed in my area (Lancashire) it's quite clear BR management were simply unprepared to try options.

A case in point, my old line (North Lacs loop). I've mention the following a few times now but in 1956 Mullards (Europe's largest supplier on TV tubes) were opening a new factory at Simonstone (on the loop line). They built the factory right next to the station there and asked BR if the 6.32 am train from Blackburn could leave 10 minutes earlier to accommodate up to 400 workers to get to the new factory. BR said it was impossible - the day the factory opened BR withdrew the 6.32's stop at Simonstone!

A year later BR said the line was loosing 10k a year and withdrew regular passenger services. Now I don't know how much say 300 - 400 employees travelling possibly 5 or 6 days a week would have brought in but it would have gone a good way to greatly reducing that 10k loss.

"Up to 400" can mean anything between 1 and 400.

They would presumably have held season tickets and therefore of low value per journey.

It could well have been that the additional cost would have exceeded the income and almost certainly wouldn't have made much of an impact on the overall loss.

 

[30907]

"Up to 400" can mean anything between 1 and 400.

They would presumably have held season tickets and therefore of low value per journey.

It could well have been that the additional cost would have exceeded the income and almost certainly wouldn't have made much of an impact on the overall loss.

And would have required an additional service to take them home, looking at the timetable!

I suspect Mullards were trying to avoid having to run works buses, which they might have had to pay for. I doubt they were offering to pay for the extra train, or even the extra coaches on the morning train. After all, we owned the railways didn't we....

A rational integrated transport policy might have gone for train one way, bus back I suppose.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

While I'd broadly agree with this, I would guess that had the line survived, it'd probably be better patronised now than either the Southport-Wigan or Preston-Ormskirk lines. Banks, Hesketh Bank/Tarleton (effectively one large village nowadays), Longton and most of all Penwortham are substantial and fairly affluent places- really only Burscough is comparable for the other lines.

With respect this is yet another example of failing to understand the true nature of the Wigan-Southport section of route. During the winter period if it was possible to turn back trains at Burscough Bridge then an off-peak service pattern of half-hourly east of Burscough but only two-hourly west thereof would almost certainly suffice for the traffic on offer. During the rest of the year of course a bit of sunshine can still attract day-trippers at least from the wider Wigan area.

Note also that although Appley Bridge station lies in West Lancashire district most of Appley Bridge settlement lies within Greater Manchester so the station has long been within the Greater Manchester fares regime, boosting traffic accordingly. You are right that the Tarleton area is both more populous and more affluent than 60 years ago but its location is nevertheless just a bit too remote from either Liverpool or Manchester to generate much commuter traffic around which a rail timetable could be built. As I said previously had it survived then the line might by now be just about able to support a thin but regular service but I doubt that there would be any significant flows of through traffic at either end.

 

[chorleyjeff]

Does anyone know why the ex–LYR Southport–Preston route was selected for closure, even though it served more communities than the Southport–Wigan route that remains open?

Apart from the Southport district of Meols Cop which retained its station, the Southport–Wigan line passes through miles of what my sister refers to as "sprout fields!" and the two stations between Meols Cop and Burscough Bridge, Bescar Lane and New Lane, are in the middle of nowhere!

Apart from Hoole, which was particularly badly situated for both Much Hoole and Little Hoole, being nearly a mile from either and some distance down a lane from the remote (estuary) side of the A59 Longton Bypass roundabout, most ot the closed stations on the Southport–Preston line were reasonably near to the communities they served!

The "Disused Stations" pages for this line does mention that B.R. (L.M.R.) was considering closing this line as early as 1959, and apart from Crossens and Banks, the stations on this line never received L.M.R. totem signage, altho' a photo of Hoole Station on its "Disused Stations" does appear to show a B.R. (L.M.R.) enamel station entrance sign – I presume this would have been maroon in colour!

(Hundred End, which was in the middle of fields and greenhouses, did close two years before the rest of the line in mid–1962).

Would this line have remained open if B.R. had introduced DMUs and de–staffed the stations?

Even in the late 50s/early 60s the Preston Southport local trains were poorly patronised with big tank engines pulling 4 non corridor coaches. Summer Saturday Glasgow, a daily Blackpool and a daily E Lancs train were not going to make the line profitable. And no goods trains since horticultural products were sent by road. The main road Preston to Southport is decent with a regular bus service.

 

[Magdalia]

There were timetabled trains to Southport from Rochdale via Bolton and Wigan. I believe some started in West Yorkshire.

Some of the excursion traffic from Yorkshire went that way too.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Some of the excursion traffic from Yorkshire went that way too.

The 'Reshaping Report' in 1963 clearly identified that peak summer excursion or holiday Saturday extras over six weeks or whatever tied up thousands of coaches that had no other work for the rest of the year and the entire exercise lost money hand over fist. Any line that hosted a material number of these trains was 'part of the problem' insofar as it meant even higher losses than those due to the basic timetable.

Such traffic was also ebbing away fast with the remorseless rise in car ownership, motorways, foreign holiday and so on.

 

[Djgr]

As a slight aside, didn't Virgin Trains run branded Southport to Preston buses for a while? Or am I imagining this?

 

[Andy873]

And would have required an additional service to take them home, looking at the timetable!

I suspect Mullards were trying to avoid having to run works buses, which they might have had to pay for. I doubt they were offering to pay for the extra train, or even the extra coaches on the morning train. After all, we owned the railways didn't we....

A rational integrated transport policy might have gone for train one way, bus back I suppose.

Yes getting back would have been a problem, but what I can tell you is that Mullard's were offering subsidised travel to and from work as part of the job offer. Anyway, it was what it was, that is, it never happened.

Such traffic was also ebbing away fast with the remorseless rise in car ownership, motorways, foreign holiday and so on.

Very true, the mills in Lancashire by 1960 were closing at a rate of one a week, the remaining mills rushed at that time to switch from powering the machinery by static steam engines to electric motors. This meant on average (for every mill that closed or switched to electric) a loss of around 10 tons of coal per mill.

With this large decline of coal for the mills was one major reasons why the Chorley line connecting with the East Lancs line was closed. It was only built as a more direct / faster way to deliver coal (from Wigan) to the mills in East Lancs, which by the way meant the coal could be purchased at a cheaper price by the mills.

As a slight aside, didn't Virgin Trains run branded Southport to Preston buses for a while? Or am I imagining this?

Don't know about that, but I can tell you in the mid 1980's there was a Ribble bus service that ran from Preston to Southport albeit every 2 hours - that shows how little demand there was.

With regards to Beeching and the duplicate lines, I watched (a good while ago) a TV interview with him some time after he'd left BR. He states quite clearly he would have closed services from Newcastle to Edinburgh. His view was the ECML north of Newcastle was just duplicating a route into Scotland which was already done by the WCML. So in his words duplicate lines don't need to be close to each other either.

Going back to the topic in question, the best clue as to why the line from Southport to Preston was closed will be in the minutes of the proposed closure which I linked to earlier.

 

[507020]

The stupid thing is while the Southport - Wigan line predominantly carried expresses, the Southport - Preston line didn’t, so comparing the size of the intermediate settlements is irrelevant.

The electrified sections to Crossens and Meols Cop were equally as busy as those from Liverpool Exchange to Southport and Ormskirk, which judging by the maps attached to Beeching’s report itself, were the most densely trafficked passenger lines outside London, so closure could not possibly have been justified.

In any case, it is the Southport - Crossens section that has been so completely obliterated as to make reopening impossible. If the line had been kept open only as far as Crossens, it could easily have been re-extended to Banks or Preston, but sadly this is not the case.

 

[frodshamfella]

Surely The Southport to Preston line is more so in middle of fields than Southport and Manchester Line, not saying the existence of Bescar Lane and New Lane is justified, it really has no point staying open, also I think there would be more traffic on Southport to Wigan section, Off topic slightly , Beeching earmarked the Exchange to Southport electrics to be withdrawn in 1963, but I think that one dropped quietly, due to that lane having good passenger amounts. But Southport to Preston line was quite easy for BR Bosses to close as that closed in I think 1964? I don’t know if electric service to Crossens closed at same time or lasted few more years. It was definitely shut by 1969/70.

I never understood why the electric service to Crossens closed when it was well patronaged. How handy would that be now for commuters to Liverpool.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I never understood why the electric service to Crossens closed when it was well patronaged. How handy would that be now for commuters to Liverpool.

It was a different time when the car was the future. It'd never close now if it were still open. Beeching had even given consideration to closing significant chunks of Merseyrail - even Liverpool-Southport was under threat, and the Ormskirk line could have lost its local stations and stopping services, becoming a Liverpool-Preston mainline.

 

[frodshamfella]

It was a different time when the car was the future. It'd never close now if it were still open. Beeching had even given consideration to closing significant chunks of Merseyrail - even Liverpool-Southport was under threat, and the Ormskirk line could have lost its local stations and stopping services, becoming a Liverpool-Preston mainline.

How we are paying for it now.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Wasn't the closure of Southport-Preston linked to the closure of the L&Y route over the Ribble east of the WCML?
Also the fate of the dedicated L&Y eastern platforms at Preston.
Blackburn and Liverpool trains could continue to use the Farington Curve junctions off the WCML, but Southport trains had no alternative route.
A vast amount of infrastructure could then be taken out, including the river bridge and complex junctions on both sides of the river.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wasn't the closure of Southport-Preston linked to the closure of the L&Y route over the Ribble east of the WCML?
Also the fate of the dedicated L&Y eastern platforms at Preston.
Blackburn and Liverpool trains could continue to use the Farington Curve junctions off the WCML, but Southport trains had no alternative route.
A vast amount of infrastructure could then be taken out, including the river bridge and complex junctions on both sides of the river.

Certainly the Preston end, yes. But if the passenger numbers on Southport-Crossens EMU services were high, why not keep just that and run a Liverpool-Crossens EMU service instead of a Liverpool-Southport one?

 

[507020]

It was a different time when the car was the future. It'd never close now if it were still open. Beeching had even given consideration to closing significant chunks of Merseyrail - even Liverpool-Southport was under threat, and the Ormskirk line could have lost its local stations and stopping services, becoming a Liverpool-Preston mainline.

But it was the Liverpool - Preston main line and it had all stations electric stopping services as far as Ormskirk, via 2 routes…

Beeching seriously proposed all stations Liverpool - Preston to close and the whole line Liverpool - Southport, but of course his vision included the retention of Bescar Lane, New Lane and Hoscar…

Certainly the Preston end, yes. But if the passenger numbers on Southport-Crossens EMU services were high, why not keep just that and run a Liverpool-Crossens EMU service instead of a Liverpool-Southport one?

Our problem now being that it is the Hawkshead Street/Meols Cop - Crossens trackbed that has been comprehensively obliterated by development, precluding reopening of any of the line, when if the infrastructure had been retained as far as the limit of the 3rd rail at New Lane level crossing*, extension to Banks would be easy and only a bridge over the Ribble needed to reach Preston.

*Along with the decades of profits from the intensive electric services it carried…

 

[prod_pep]

The Southport to Crossens EMU service was reasonably successful by all accounts, but it certainly was not as busy as the Southport and Ormskirk to Liverpool lines; not even close in fact. The Crossens service was roughly every 20-30 minutes in its heyday with a two or three carriage 502 set, whilst the Southport to Liverpool line had a train every five minutes at peak times made up of five or six carriages.

Had it survived however, I'm sure it would manage respectable loadings on something like a 30 minute headway these days with perhaps extensions to and from Liverpool in the peaks. From Southport, the number of journeys to the town's surviving suburban stations of Birkdale, Hillside and Ainsdale are significant. Southport to Birkdale must be one of the commonest journeys made on the line, despite the short distance involved.