markymark2000
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Hooton station car park is owned and ran by Cheshire West and Chester Council
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Temporary closure of Stanlow and Thornton
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The car park is you mean? Certainly Merseyrail free parking and staffed stations does not cross the county lines.
markymark2000
On Moderation
Yes, sorry. Edited the post.
Hooton station is in Cheshire, not Merseyside. For some reason it is classed as Merseyside in ticketing arrangements.
Aughton Park, Town Green and Ormskirk, all staffed full time Merseyrail stations, are in West Lancashire.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The only unstaffed Merseyrail stations are ones which have never been staffed since Merseyrail took them over/opened them, i.e. Little Sutton, Overpool, Capenhurst and Bache. It's not got to do with which county they are in.
I've never seen much point in staff at Aughton Park and Town Green as they're lightly used and a TVM would do fine, but they have been staffed for a very long time.
This was for operational convenience when the line was electrified from Rock Ferry to Hooton in the 1980s.
Hooton used to be closer to the border but in the intervening years Cheshire made a successful land grab up towards the M53 motorway.
Of course historically both sides of the border are Cheshire.
Old Yard Dog
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Little Sutton was staffed until 1992.
Fares from Hooton to Liverpool are considerably cheaper than fares from Ellesmere Port which offsets the £1 parking fee at Hooton.
Stanlow & Thornton station was well used 40 or 50 years ago when there was an hourly Hooton - Helsby service till about 1800, augmented by a couple of additional Rock Ferry - Stanlow & Thronton workings in the morning & evening peaks. There was even a small ticket office at Stanlow which used to open in the afternoon. There were also a number of special buses which ran to the little bus station next to the railway station.
For about 18 months recently, the three or four Ellesmere Port - Helsby workings were cut to two but extended to Leeds via Bradford and Manchester Victoria respectively. These ran at useful times for commuters to Manchester but there was no publicity at all for these workings, not even a timetable poster at Ellesmere Port station. These trains were subsequently diverted to Chester leaving Ellesmere Port with just a shuttle to Helsby.
Does the minibus actually run I wonder? The barrier on Oil Sites Road is card operated so Stanlow staff can drive through. Staff at Shell's former Thornton Research Centre also had cards which would open the barrier but these were withdrawn when Shell sold Stanlow to Essar. The barriers were installed to deter woke fuel protesters.
By all accounts, Essar have had financial difficulties recently so repairing the footbridge might not be too high on their list of priorities.
Fares from Hooton to Liverpool are considerably cheaper than fares from Ellesmere Port which offsets the £1 parking fee at Hooton.
Stanlow & Thornton station was well used 40 or 50 years ago when there was an hourly Hooton - Helsby service till about 1800, augmented by a couple of additional Rock Ferry - Stanlow & Thronton workings in the morning & evening peaks. There was even a small ticket office at Stanlow which used to open in the afternoon. There were also a number of special buses which ran to the little bus station next to the railway station.
For about 18 months recently, the three or four Ellesmere Port - Helsby workings were cut to two but extended to Leeds via Bradford and Manchester Victoria respectively. These ran at useful times for commuters to Manchester but there was no publicity at all for these workings, not even a timetable poster at Ellesmere Port station. These trains were subsequently diverted to Chester leaving Ellesmere Port with just a shuttle to Helsby.
Does the minibus actually run I wonder? The barrier on Oil Sites Road is card operated so Stanlow staff can drive through. Staff at Shell's former Thornton Research Centre also had cards which would open the barrier but these were withdrawn when Shell sold Stanlow to Essar. The barriers were installed to deter woke fuel protesters.
By all accounts, Essar have had financial difficulties recently so repairing the footbridge might not be too high on their list of priorities.
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The minibus only runs to the roundabout before the gates (assuming as you say it does). It doesn't enter the barriered area.
Old Yard Dog
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There is now just one hourly bus route serving Ellesmere Port in the evenings which is the no. 1 from Chester to Liverpool. As this runs via Cheshire Oaks and the Coliseum Leisure Park, it misses large areas of the town.
This makes Capenhurst station a public transport godsend for people living in the Hope Farm area. Overpool and even Ellesmere Port railway stations also serve areas distant from the no 1 bus.
Capenhurst has a small free car park which is perceived as safer than Ellesmere Port, as it is in the middle of nowhere, but less safe than Hooton.
The lack of buses and flattish terrain has led to an increase in the number of the cyclists in the evenings in the Overpool area, the majority of whom, and I mean the majority, don't have lights.
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For the information of those unfamiliar with the area. Oil Sites Road was the main road from Ince & Elton to M53 jn 8 and Ellesmere Port town centre which, although private, was free for anybody to use until about 10 years ago. Shell then installed a card operated barrier and forbidding signs to deter fuel protesters. This inconvenienced and annoyed residents of Ince & Elton who had to divert via the A5117. The railway station is on Oil Sites Road, on the Ince side of the barrier, and is in principle accessible to the public on foot or bicycle - or by car from the Ince end.
To get into the refinery itself, you have to go under the railway via an underpass and then gain access through a set of manned set of security gates. There are also industrial areas on the north side of Oil Sites Road, each with its own manned security gates.
The western end of Oil Sites Road is still fully open and gives access to the Boat Museum, various industrial estates and the municipal waste disposal site.
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It comes under the umbrella of Merseytravel. Much in the same way that for example 'Rainford' is part of the area for train travel only although it is a 'Northern' station.
Old Yard Dog
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Oil Sites Road is almost flat. Stanlow was refinery built on Ince marshes. Have a look at this 1924 OS map. Oil Sites Road is north of and parallel to the railway.
Historic Ordnance Survey Map of Ince, 1924 - Francis Frith
Map of Ince, 1924 from Francis Frith
www.francisfrith.com
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Notwithstanding the tiny number of trains that call, the temporary closure of Stanlow & Thornton station has been mentioned repeatedly on Radio Merseyside's traffic & travel bulletins.
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To be fair, im a fairly regular user of Ellesmere Port station car park and leave my car there until all hours, its a bit of a dump but touch wood its always intact when I get back!
As I now work in Chester, I park at Capenhurst instead if going to work (plus a more frequent service). As has been said before, a godsend for locals, during the day at certain times its a stream of cars coming in to pickup and drop off at the station.
Got there today to find the car park completely full and had to drive to Chester instead! Not the first time this has happened in the past few months.
As I now work in Chester, I park at Capenhurst instead if going to work (plus a more frequent service). As has been said before, a godsend for locals, during the day at certain times its a stream of cars coming in to pickup and drop off at the station.
Got there today to find the car park completely full and had to drive to Chester instead! Not the first time this has happened in the past few months.
nedchester
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Capenhurst is often full these days even at weekends. Probably in need of expansion especially with a 15 minute service during the day to Chester and Liverpool.
Fortunately, I can walk there from home without needing to use the car.
jamesst
Established Member
If as planned the normal 15min service returns across the whole network from April/May then Capenhurst returns to a 30min frequency with the skip stopping coming back.
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