Headbolt Lane progress updates

[D821]

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

Thanks for posting, there's a considerable amount of working being done for it, helps explain the price tag.
It's also interesting to see them mentioning connecting to Wigan as a possible thing in the future.

 

[WAO]

From the article, under the electrification section, it doesn't look like they are taking much notice of ORR's strictures on third rail electrification.

Fine if the batteries work but if they don't would ORR dare to keep a new "red wall" extension closed?

WAO

 

[Bletchleyite]

From the article, under the electrification section, it doesn't look like they are taking much notice of ORR's strictures on third rail electrification.

Fine if the batteries work but if they don't would ORR dare to keep a new "red wall" extension closed?

Why would the batteries not work?

 

[WAO]

Why are they running tests?

There are other issues, such as safety of a large energy store in depots and tunnel fires, as well as the need for a sub-class.

WAO

 

[507020]

Why are they running tests?

There are other issues, such as safety of a large energy store in depots and tunnel fires, as well as the need for a sub-class.

WAO

If they quadrupled the tunnel they would be able to divert trains around the fire. There is already provision for evacuating in a tunnel.

 

[mcnw35282]

Work has started on Headbolt Lane station. Hoardings have gone up from a point opposite Langton Road all the way along Headbolt Lane and along County Road up to the railway bridge. One lane of Headbolt Lane has also been closed off and traffic can only travel towards County Road from Fallowfield. Early stages yet...but they appear to have dug out the point where the access road will connect with Headbolt Lane.

 

[Llandudno]

Work has started on Headbolt Lane station. Hoardings have gone up from a point opposite Langton Road all the way along Headbolt Lane and along County Road up to the railway bridge. One lane of Headbolt Lane has also been closed off and traffic can only travel towards County Road from Fallowfield. Early stages yet...but they appear to have dug out the point where the access road will connect with Headbolt Lane.

Great news, has anyone any idea when the station will be open and what the name of the station will be?

Merseytravel/Liverpool City Region recently carried out a poll for the name of the proposed new station at St James, have/are they doing a poll for the naming of this new station?

 

[childwallblues]

Great news, has anyone any idea when the station will be open and what the name of the station will be?

Merseytravel/Liverpool City Region recently carried out a poll for the name of the proposed new station at St James, have/are they doing a poll for the naming of this new station?

Not to my knowledge but Northwood or Tower Hill have been suggested.

 

[telstarbox]

Both tube stations down here

 

[childwallblues]

Both tube stations down here

And both are housing estates in Kirkby.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Great news, has anyone any idea when the station will be open and what the name of the station will be?

Merseytravel/Liverpool City Region recently carried out a poll for the name of the proposed new station at St James, have/are they doing a poll for the naming of this new station?

Woolly Back interchange?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Woolly Back interchange?

"Rathole not-very-Central"?

(OK, maybe a bit harsh, but Kirkby is hardly pretty...)

 

[Llandudno]

And both are housing estates in Kirkby.

Kirkby Northwood or Kirkby Tower Hill would work though…

 

[Bletchleyite]

Kirkby Northwood or Kirkby Tower Hill would work though…

Given that it's an interchange and will appear on displays at places quite far away, having a Kirkby prefix would certainly be of benefit. "Headbolt Lane" on the displays at Blackburn might confuse people.

 

[childwallblues]

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.

I thought the same as you but there is obviously more to it than just the Headbolt Lane area. The line is currently single track from Fazakerley. T assume that this will have doubled all the way to Headbolt Lane and will require a new second platform at the current Kirkby Station and a new bridge over the A506 road.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Feb 2022 ==

"Rathole not-very-Central"?

(OK, maybe a bit harsh, but Kirkby is hardly pretty...)

Stand in Kirkby Town Centre and shout that out.
T will give you directions to the Walton Centre Brain Unit at Aintree is.

 

[mcnw35282]

The bridge over County Road (A506) is definitely being replaced with a double track deck.

The track from Fazakerley to Kirkby is mostly on embankments...I'm not sure they're wide enough to fit a 2nd track on. Also, the bridge crossing the M57 is only single track and will be expensive to demolish and rebuild. I think the track will only be duplicated from Kirkby to Headbolt Lane

EDIT: ...but then again, the track from Kirkby to rainford is raised from opposite Mill Farm to just after the County Road bridge.

It'll be interesting to see what they do!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Was it not all double track before Merseyrail?

 

[dvfmlfc]

Was it not all double track before Merseyrail?

It got singled between Rainford and Fazakerley in 1970. The infrastructure is still in place to double the line, except for the bridges at County Road and the M57.

 

[vic-rijrode]

Was it not all double track before Merseyrail?

It was the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway main line between Liverpool Exchange, Wigan, Bolton and Manchester Victoria - so certainly would have been double track.

 

[S&CLER]

I don't think the M57 bridge is to be doubled, but if it were that would go a long way to explain the price tag. Is this the bridge on which the word PIES (name of a local pop group) was painted in huge letters for a long time? Or was that the Ormskirk line 2-track bridge? As you go north on the M57, the two bridges come in quick succession. Lately one of them had PLANDEMIC on it, but I think that has been painted out, from what I saw when coming back from Frodsham last week.

 

[urbophile]

Given that it's an interchange and will appear on displays at places quite far away, having a Kirkby prefix would certainly be of benefit. "Headbolt Lane" on the displays at Blackburn might confuse people.

I think the simple option would be to rename the existing Kirkby station (Westvale perhaps, or Kirkby Village if you want to keep the K word) and call the new station Kirkby. It would cause less confusion for passengers coming from the Manchester direction.

 

[8A Rail]

I don't think the M57 bridge is to be doubled, but if it were that would go a long way to explain the price tag. Is this the bridge on which the word PIES (name of a local pop group) was painted in huge letters for a long time? Or was that the Ormskirk line 2-track bridge? As you go north on the M57, the two bridges come in quick succession. Lately one of them had PLANDEMIC on it, but I think that has been painted out, from what I saw when coming back from Frodsham last week.

The 'Pies' one is the Ormskirk line bridge near to Switch Island itself. The Kirkby railway bridge is just within sight of Junction Six (for Kirkby / Fazakerley).

 

[childwallblues]

Unfortunately actions like track reduction taken by the railways in the past are costing lots of money to restore these days.
Does anybody know the distance between Headbolt Lane and the proposed junction for Skelmersdale.

 

[D821]

Unfortunately actions like track reduction taken by the railways in the past are costing lots of money to restore these days.
Does anybody know the distance between Headbolt Lane and the proposed junction for Skelmersdale.

Wikipedia quotes a government document that says 3 miles of track, though this was from 2007 and may not still be accurate with the current plans.

Skelmersdale railway station - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[snowball]

Does anybody know the distance between Headbolt Lane and the proposed junction for Skelmersdale.

From plausible guesswork on the OS map, the junction would be about 1km east of Rainford station, so about 7km from Headbolt Lane, and then the spur to Skem would be about 3km.

I think it's been stated that from Fazakerley station to and including the M57 bridge will remain single track, and then doubled from there.

 

[Skie]

The proposal for the Skem route had it as 2 single tracks. 1 from Wigan and one from Kirkby. The line from Kirkby will be doubled to Headbolt Lane, but officially as 2 single lines. I recall them saying the Skem service would be half hourly, so I suspect one platform would become a bay to accommodate the terminating services and the other turned into a through platform for Merseyrail services that are heading to Skem.

Very strange setup, but it's cheap and leaves room for improvements at relatively small cost if Skem ends up delivering lots of passengers, justifying the cost to double track it all.

 

[py_megapixel]

If it's meant to be an interchange, why build two separate platforms - would an island platform not be more sensible?

 

[Bletchleyite]

If it's meant to be an interchange, why build two separate platforms - would an island platform not be more sensible?

It is actually quite clever. Merseyrail need two platforms (it requires an extra unit in the Kirkby diagrams so means two will be there at once), and it allows at present level access to all platforms without lifts, and it is also easily convertible into a through station by adding a bridge and lifts when the time comes.

 

[urbophile]

The proposal for the Skem route had it as 2 single tracks. 1 from Wigan and one from Kirby. The line from Ormskirk

which doesn't exist. You obviously meant something else, but what?

 

[Skie]

which doesn't exist. You obviously meant something else, but what?

Erm, Kirkby