Conway Park railway station

Conway Park railway station is situated in the town centre of Birkenhead, Wirral, England. It lies on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.

Conway Park
The surface-level building
LocationBirkenhead, Wirral
England
Grid referenceSJ320889
Managed byMerseyrail
Transit authorityMerseytravel
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeCNP
Fare zoneB1
ClassificationDfT category E
Key dates
1998Opened
Passengers
2015/16 1.061 million
2016/17 0.897 million
2017/18 0.875 million
2018/19 1.003 million
2019/20 1.145 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Conway Park is the newest station on the Wirral Line. In 1990, the Merseyside Development Corporation joined with British Rail and Merseyrail to study the cost of the new station.[1] The station opened to the public on 22 June 1998,[2] after an official opening by Neil Kinnock on 24 April 1998.[3][4] Conway Park is between Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square stations, approached on either side by a tunnel built by the Mersey Railway in the 1880s. It was built by excavating a box downwards, opening out the roof of the tunnel, which is 18 m (59 ft) below ground level. The platforms are reached by stairs or lifts from the ticket office.[5]

The station was built in order to provide a station on the lines from New Brighton and West Kirby that was more convenient for the town centre of Birkenhead than either Birkenhead Park or Hamilton Square (which are otherwise the nearest stations). Its name comes from the name of the redevelopment area on the north side of the town centre in which it is situated. The name has come under criticism as some regard it not to be particularly indicative of the station's location. When it was originally being planned, the station was known as Birkenhead Market. The platforms are protected by ticket barriers. The road which the station is situated on is Europa Boulevard.

Facilities

The station is staffed during all opening hours and has platform CCTV.[6] There are toilets, a payphone, a vending machine, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information. The station does not have a free car park, though there is a drop-off point on Europa Boulevard, as well as a "Pay and Display" car park, to the rear of the station as viewed from Birkenhead town centre. Step-free access to the platforms, for wheelchairs and prams, is possible, via the lifts.[7] Each platform also has sheltered seating. Free Wi-Fi was introduced in October 2015.[8] There is secure cycle parking for 10 cycles.[9]

Services
A Merseyrail Class 507

During the daytime peak (7:00 - 19:00), there are four trains per hour to New Brighton and West Kirby and eight trains per hour to Liverpool. Outside of the daytime peak, the frequency is halved.[10] These services are provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs. These trains will soon be replaced by Merseyrail's new fleet, coming in 2019–21.[11]

See also
Conway Park on Merseyrail

References
  1. "Around the regions: Midland". RAIL. No. 116. EMAP National Publications. 22 February – 7 March 1990. p. 17. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
  2. "Conway Park station opens plus 'Smart' bus service". Wirral Globe. 24 June 1998. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  3. Maund 2001, p. 77
  4. "Kinnock puts town on track for 21st century". Wirral Globe. 29 April 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  5. "Station Facilities for Conway Park". Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  6. Station Facilities for Conway Park Accessed 2013-12-19
  7. Conway Park Station Plan Accessed 2013-12-19
  8. Rigby, Emma (22 October 2015). "Free wi-fi introduced at Hamilton Square and Conway Park stations". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  9. "Conway-park train station | timetable | ticket prices & facilities". www.merseyrail.org. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  10. "Wirral Line timetable" (PDF). Merseyrail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  11. http://www.globalrailnews.com/2016/12/19/merseyrail-to-get-new-train-fleet/

Sources
  • Maund, T.B. (2001). Merseyrail Electrics: The Inside Story. NBC Books. OCLC 655126526.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Birkenhead to West Kirby. Middleton Press. figs. 6-7. ISBN 9781908174611. OCLC 885451764.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Birkenhead Park
towards New Brighton or West Kirby		   Merseyrail
Wirral Line		   Hamilton Square
towards Liverpool Central

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.