Bache railway station serves the suburbs of Bache and Upton-by-Chester in the north of the city of Chester, England. It is the first station for Merseyrail services leaving Chester on the Wirral Line. Passengers can alight here for the Countess of Chester Hospital which is close by, and regular bus services to Chester Zoo.

Bache
General information
Location	Bache, Cheshire West and Chester England
Coordinates	53.208°N 2.8914°W / 53.208; -2.8914
Grid reference	SJ405683
Managed by	Merseyrail
Transit authority	Merseytravel
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BAC
Fare zone	G2
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	British Rail
Key dates
9 January 1984	Opened
Passengers
2016/17	0.360 million
2017/18	0.338 million
2018/19	0.459 million
2019/20	0.467 million
2020/21	0.129 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

It opened in January 1984 by British Rail in conjunction with a new supermarket being developed by Safeway (now Morrisons) on the site of the former railway coalyard. The modern station has two small covered waiting areas, information boards, CCTV and a footbridge. The platforms are made out of concrete slabs that are laid on brick piles. A remotely operated public address system was installed in January 2012 together with automatic train departure indicators.

This station superseded Upton-by-Chester railway station which was sited 2,300 feet (700 m) to the north next to Liverpool Road roadbridge. The relocation of the station produced an immediate and dramatic uplift in the number of passengers using it.

Facilities

The station has platform CCTV, a 61-space car park and a cycle rack with 20 spaces and secure cycle storage for 20 bikes.[1] Each platform has a waiting shelter with seating. There are departure and arrival screens, on the platform, for passenger information. There is a payphone, next to the entrance, on platform 1.[2] There is ramp access, to each platform, for passengers with wheelchairs or prams. However, cross-platform access, within the station, is by staircase only. Platform access has not been modernised to the standard of that at Hooton.

Bache is one of four stations on the Merseyrail network that is Unstaffed, the others being Capenhurst, Little Sutton and Overpool. Since Bache became part of the Merseyrail Penalty Fares Area, on 15 June 2009, intending passengers must purchase rail tickets (available to any destination on the UK rail network) from the ticket-vending machine, before boarding a train. This is located on the Liverpool-bound platform.

Services

Trains operate every 15 minutes during the working day from Monday to Saturday southwards towards Chester and northwards towards Liverpool Lime Street/Liverpool Central via Hooton, Rock Ferry and Birkenhead Central. Later in the evening and on Sundays the service is half-hourly. During the periods of quarter-hourly services alternate trains run through Capenhurst non-stop between Hooton and Bache in each direction.[3] These services are all provided by Merseyrail's fleet of Class 507 and Class 508 EMUs.

Problems

Merseyrail leases Bache railway station car park from Morrisons Supermarket. Rail users' vehicles parked in the supermarket's own parking area because of lack of spaces in the designated Station Car Park are issued penalty tickets. Intending rail passengers who arrive to find the designated Station Car Park full and wish to avoid a penalty ticket as well as staff at and visitors to the nearby Countess of Chester Hospital are creating problems for local residents by leaving their vehicles in adjacent roads and streets.[4]

Gallery

• 
  The end of the platform
• 
  Platforms and footbridge
• 
  A view in the opposite direction
• 
  A Merseyrail Class 507 at the station

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Chester to Birkenhead. Middleton Press. figs. 14-15. ISBN 9781908174215. OCLC 811323335.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bache railway station.

• Train times and station information for Bache railway station from National Rail

• Station information for Bache railway station from Merseyrail
• Station on navigable O.S. map Bache south of marked Upton station

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Chester Terminus		Merseyrail Wirral Line Chester Branch		Capenhurst or Hooton towards Liverpool Central