Headbolt Lane progress updates

[mrd269697]

According to Merseytravel, work on Headbolt Lane station in Kirkby will start next month. The station is likely to open spring 2023.

link: http://ow.ly/L44p50H7qfE

Work is set to begin on construction of a new station at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby, after planning permission was granted for the £80m scheme this week.

The decision was made at the Knowsley Council Planning Committee on Thursday 9 December. Work will begin at the site in January 2022, with the opening of the station planned for Spring 2023.

The scheme is being delivered by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority in partnership with Knowsley Council, Network Rail, Merseyrail and Northern. Funding for the scheme has come from the Transforming Cities Fund.
The new station plans include:

• Step-free access throughout the station
• A bus interchange
• Cycle parking
• Links to local cycling and walking networks
• Passenger waiting facilities and toilets
• Approximately 300 park and ride spaces

The full scheme includes the extension of the Merseyrail network beyond the existing Kirkby station and will see Merseyrail services run into the new station

 

[snowball]

The picture seems to show a two-platform station. Weren't there reports that it would have three platforms? (Though that seemed a bit over the top to me.)

 

[Bletchleyite]

The picture seems to show a two-platform station. Weren't there reports that it would have three platforms? (Though that seemed a bit over the top to me.)

The flythrough shows it as a more Kirkby like end on arrangement, so I guess the original "bay cut into side platform" idea has been dropped. It is visible from about 2:50 in the video.

It is still a slightly odd layout; I don't get why the Wigan platform is built out like it is.

 

[D821]

Are passengers meant to walk all the way to the bottom of the platform to cross to the other side? I'm guessing they don't see this as a big issue if they're just going to use the one platform.

 

[snowball]

Oops! I missed the flythrough at first and only saw the still.

 

[mrd269697]

Why not have two platforms, Wigan trains use one, Liverpool trains the other, rather than spaff money making 3 platforms which means when extended to Skem, the bay platform becomes redundant

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why not have two platforms, Wigan trains use one, Liverpool trains the other, rather than spaff money making 3 platforms which means when extended to Skem, the bay platform becomes redundant

They need two platforms for terminating Merseyrail because it will require an extra diagram over the present situation, if I recall correctly, and as such the layover will be slightly over 15 minutes. The temporary bit of concrete between the two sides allows level access to both sides.

However I don't get why the Wigan side isn't the same layout as the Liverpool side, because it will need to be at some point. The only benefit I can see to it being laid out as it is is avoiding slewing the track if it is already in that position but at the cost of having to demolish the sticky-out bit.

Actually, I've just remembered why it is like that (I think). Once it is a through station, the platform on the far side can be closed. The platform by the building would be used for any service coming from Liverpool and terminating (if there are any), while through services would use the "sticking out" platform in both directions having overtaken on the track on the far side, with the onward line remaining single track. This removes the need for a footbridge/lifts and is so cheaper. Though that does mean there will be a long walk for more trains than not (certainly at least 50% and probably the whole service on Sundays), so perhaps the building is in the wrong place.

 

[urbophile]

I'm slightly geographically confused. Is the station building north or south of the tracks (ie. Tower Hill or Northwood)? How do you access it from the other side (I assume at least a footpath but is there a road as well?). There seems an awful lot of green space: it's a while since I lived in Kirkby but I don't remember it as that rural.

 

[snowball]

I'm slightly geographically confused. Is the station building north or south of the tracks (ie. Tower Hill or Northwood)? How do you access it from the other side (I assume at least a footpath but is there a road as well?). There seems an awful lot of green space: it's a while since I lived in Kirkby but I don't remember it as that rural.

Google satellite view shows the site:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

 

[urbophile]

Thanks.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The flythrough shows it as a more Kirkby like end on arrangement, so I guess the original "bay cut into side platform" idea has been dropped. It is visible from about 2:50 in the video.

It is still a slightly odd layout; I don't get why the Wigan platform is built out like it is.

Not very passenger friendly still for interchange but I guess the long term aim will be for the services to push on beyond Headbolt Lane in due course with higher capacity batteries.

£80m is ludicrous amount if its just for the station but maybe includes the addition of batteries to the 777 as well.

 

[WAO]

Nice Christmas present, whatever the platforms!

WAO

 

[Baxenden Bank]

The previous press release stated:

Subject to receiving the necessary planning and railway approvals it is proposed that works would commence later this year around November 2021. The scheme will take approximately 18 months to construct and we expect the new station to be ready by the end of Spring 2023.

The latest press release (linked #1) states a January 2022 start. An 18 month contract would give a July 2023 completion date. Don't book your travel to the opening ceremony just yet.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Actually, I've just remembered why it is like that (I think). Once it is a through station, the platform on the far side can be closed. The platform by the building would be used for any service coming from Liverpool and terminating (if there are any), while through services would use the "sticking out" platform in both directions having overtaken on the track on the far side, with the onward line remaining single track. This removes the need for a footbridge/lifts and is so cheaper. Though that does mean there will be a long walk for more trains than not (certainly at least 50% and probably the whole service on Sundays), so perhaps the building is in the wrong place.

I'd agree. Looks to me like the building/entrance really needs to be roughly opposite where the Liverpool-bound buffers are - otherwise it's going to be a very long walk not just to Manchester trains, but also for the time being to any Liverpool trains that use the platform on the far side. Also looks astonishing to me that they are planning for people to have that long walk, but not putting any canopies on the platform.

(To be pedantic, it's probably the buffers, not the building, that are in the wrong place).

 

[urbophile]

Actually, I've just remembered why it is like that (I think). Once it is a through station, the platform on the far side can be closed. The platform by the building would be used for any service coming from Liverpool and terminating (if there are any), while through services would use the "sticking out" platform in both directions having overtaken on the track on the far side, with the onward line remaining single track. This removes the need for a footbridge/lifts and is so cheaper. Though that does mean there will be a long walk for more trains than not (certainly at least 50% and probably the whole service on Sundays), so perhaps the building is in the wrong place.

But unless through services (when they begin) are all going to use the single platform on the north side, in both directions, passengers will need to cross what will then be running lines. Hence there will need to be a bridge and lifts. Ideally double track would be restored to the whole line, at least as far as Rainford, and Headbolt Lane could become a standard two platform station.

It seems odd that the main entrance, and station building, is going to be on the side of the line away from most of the built up area of Kirkby.

Is the name of the station settled? Apart from its unsettling association with the Munsters, it won't be clear to many people where it is. Especially as long as it remains a terminus, for Merseyrail and for services from Manchester. It should be renamed Kirkby and the original station renamed Westvale. (West Kirkby would be way too confusing!)

 

[DynamicSpirit]

But unless through services (when they begin) are all going to use the single platform on the north side, in both directions, passengers will need to cross what will then be running lines.

No they won't. Look at timeframe 02:56 into the flypast video. The kink in the platform there is what will allow a terminating track and a through track to be accessed from the same platform. (Would still need to build a bridge if they want to keep access to the station from the footpath on the far side of the tracks though).

On this note... I'm wondering why didn't they design the station like this (see diagram)?



It looks to me like my design would be more convenient to passengers AND be cheaper, since it would save the expense of building the 2nd temporary platform to access the 2nd Liverpool-bound track. And it would be just as easy to convert to through running on the basis of a terminating platform and a bidirectional through platform.

 

[urbophile]

Would still need to build a bridge if they want to keep access to the station from the footpath on the far side of the tracks though)

Well quite. This is the really puzzling bit. Northwood and the rest of Kirkby – where the majority of people live – is on that side. Are they going to be expected to walk all the way round via the main road to access the station through the car park? All the scallies who lived there when I did, 40 years ago, will be respectable pensioners now but I'm sure that many of their grandchildren will be tempted to jump fences and disregard health and safety.

 

[mcnw35282]

Google satellite view shows the site:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

From the angle shown in the fly through, I'd say the station is closer to the footbridge than to County Road...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Dec 2021 ==

You'd hope that Stagecoach also change the route of the 14A in Tower Hill to pick up Headbolt Lane station...

 

[Legolash2o]

I'm a bit surprised they didn't allow a small bit of DC 3rd rail extension for such a short route.

 

[Djgr]

But unless through services (when they begin) are all going to use the single platform on the north side, in both directions, passengers will need to cross what will then be running lines. Hence there will need to be a bridge and lifts. Ideally double track would be restored to the whole line, at least as far as Rainford, and Headbolt Lane could become a standard two platform station.

It seems odd that the main entrance, and station building, is going to be on the side of the line away from most of the built up area of Kirkby.

Is the name of the station settled? Apart from its unsettling association with the Munsters, it won't be clear to many people where it is. Especially as long as it remains a terminus, for Merseyrail and for services from Manchester. It should be renamed Kirkby and the original station renamed Westvale. (West Kirkby would be way too confusing!)

I hate the name. From what I recall Liverpool South Parkway was a late change and so there is a precedent.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Kirkby Central and Kirkby East might be best. OK, Westvale isn't quite central but it is the nearest station to the town centre. Either way I think it needs Kirkby in it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Dec 2021 ==

But unless through services (when they begin) are all going to use the single platform on the north side, in both directions

I think they are, yes.

 

[snowball]

I'm a bit surprised they didn't allow a small bit of DC 3rd rail extension for such a short route.

But then it wouldn't have served as a demonstrator for batteries that Merseyrail may wish to use elsewhere.

 

[Llandudno]

Kirkby Northwood would be my pick!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well quite. This is the really puzzling bit. Northwood and the rest of Kirkby – where the majority of people live – is on that side. Are they going to be expected to walk all the way round via the main road to access the station through the car park? All the scallies who lived there when I did, 40 years ago, will be respectable pensioners now but I'm sure that many of their grandchildren will be tempted to jump fences and disregard health and safety.

There is already a footbridge over the line near to the station which I guess would be used.

There is housing on both sides, you have to pick one!

 

[urbophile]

Kirkby Central and Kirkby East might be best. OK, Westvale isn't quite central but it is the nearest station to the town centre. Either way I think it needs Kirkby in it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Dec 2021 ==



I think they are, yes.

I'd have thought they were more or less equidistant from the town centre. And as 'Headbolt Lane' will be the terminus/interchange it will presumably replace the present station as the main one for the town, hence it should be 'Kirkby' or 'Kirkby Central'. If you don't like Westvale why not Kirkby Village as a new name for the existing station?

 

[dvfmlfc]

Not very passenger friendly still for interchange but I guess the long term aim will be for the services to push on beyond Headbolt Lane in due course with higher capacity batteries.

£80m is ludicrous amount if its just for the station but maybe includes the addition of batteries to the 777 as well.

The £80 million isn't so far fetched. The line will be doubled between Headbolt Lane and just before the single track bridge over the M57, an extra platform should be built at Kirkby and a second single-track bridge has to be built over County Road.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd have thought they were more or less equidistant from the town centre. And as 'Headbolt Lane' will be the terminus/interchange it will presumably replace the present station as the main one for the town, hence it should be 'Kirkby' or 'Kirkby Central'. If you don't like Westvale why not Kirkby Village as a new name for the existing station?

It'll be the terminus, but it won't be the "main station" in that sense because it is further from the town centre. The terminus doesn't have to be the main station, it isn't in all sorts of places.

 

[mcnw35282]

The £80 million isn't so far fetched. The line will be doubled between Headbolt Lane and just before the single track bridge over the M57, an extra platform should be built at Kirkby and a second single-track bridge has to be built over County Road.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the bridge over County Road is being demolished and completely rebuilt due to it being no longer fit for purpose. (Think it was Steve Rotherham who said it...)

 

[507020]

I'm slightly geographically confused. Is the station building north or south of the tracks (ie. Tower Hill or Northwood)? How do you access it from the other side (I assume at least a footpath but is there a road as well?). There seems an awful lot of green space: it's a while since I lived in Kirkby but I don't remember it as that rural.

The station building and car park will be north of the tracks with the car park accessed via a new bridge off Headbolt Lane over Kirkby brook. Knowsley Council are also supposed to be providing footpath and pedestrian crossing improvements along Headbolt Lane itself. I visited the station site and the areas on either side a while ago and noted that as part of the new housing development on the other side of the tracks, a header footpath has been built which will presumably lead to the station, giving pedestrian access from both sides.

The £80 million isn't so far fetched. The line will be doubled between Headbolt Lane and just before the single track bridge over the M57, an extra platform should be built at Kirkby and a second single-track bridge has to be built over County Road.

I was wondering what would happen to that single track bridge over the M57. The destruction of the original Liverpool and Bury Railway embankment of 1848 during the construction of the M57 had a large part to play in the line being split at Kirkby and singled almost the whole way from Fazakerley to Rainford in the first place, making possible 4 separate buffer overrun incidents.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the bridge over County Road is being demolished and completely rebuilt due to it being no longer fit for purpose. (Think it was Steve Rotherham who said it...)

I think this is correct. The original Manchester and Bury Railway stone bridge deck of 1848 was replaced by the LMS in the 1930s with a metal one albeit still double track and on the same abutments, but when County Road itself was realigned and widened in the 1970s the bridge was extended with a new single track bridge deck on concrete abutments. With the oldest part of the metal bridge deck being close to 100 years old and the abutments closer to 200, as well as the use of 50 years old concrete which is only single track width, I suspect it would be a lot easier to build an entirely new double track bridge spanning the entire road rather than try and cobble something together in an attempt to widen the single track section. At least it should be easier to close County Road than the M57 to replace a bridge.


Also one has mentioned that the siding where freight trains currently reverse to access the recycling facility will remain in place adjacent to the station, giving a 3 track layout in some places. Network Rail have stated their intention to widen part of the embankment accordingly.

 

[mcnw35282]

Found it!

About Headbolt Lane Station Kirkby

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is currently developing ambitious plans for a new station at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby and is keen to hear your views. View more details on this proposed station on the site and then let us know what you think of the plans by 23:59 on 13/06/2021.

headboltlane.commonplace.is

Will works take place on County Road?



Yes, the project will see the renewal of the existing railway bridge over County Road by a new wider bridge which will carry the new twin track railway. In addition, the opportunity will be taken to remove one of the existing bridge piers and lengthen the span of the bridge which will facilitate the potential for widening the road at this point.