Birchwood railway station is a railway station opened in 1981 by British Rail, serving the Birchwood district to the north east of Warrington, Cheshire, in the north west of England. The station is 24+1⁄4 miles (39.0 km) East of Liverpool Lime Street railway station and 13+1⁄4 miles (21.3 km) west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Liverpool-Manchester line.

Birchwood
Birchwood railway station, July 2018
General information
Location	Birchwood, Warrington England
Coordinates	53.4124°N 2.5253°W / 53.4124; -2.5253
Grid reference	SJ651908
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BWD
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	July 1981
Passengers
2016/17	0.713 million
2017/18	0.688 million
2018/19	0.626 million
2019/20	0.600 million
2020/21	0.120 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is operated by Northern Trains and is on the southern route of the Liverpool–Manchester Line. It is manned full-time (between 0610 and 2345 Mondays–Saturdays and 0825 and 2320 Sundays). It is across from the main Birchwood shopping complex and is well served by onward transportation to all parts of Birchwood and further afield.

Facilities

There is sheltered seating on both platforms with a ticket office with seating on the Manchester-bound platform. A footbridge connects the two platforms. Outside the station there is a bus stop and the station is close to the Birchwood shopping mall.

The ticket office is open until 22:00, though it does occasionally close during the day whilst staff carry out other duties. During the daytime there are three staff members on the station (station clerk, kiosk and a cleaner), and two of an evening (station clerk and a security guard). When the ticket office is closed there are 2 ticket machines in the station building on platform 1 and 1 in the waiting room on platform 2.[1] Train running information is provided by automated announcements, digital information screens and timetable posters. Step-free access is available via lifts on both platforms (commissioned in the autumn of 2014).[2]

Services

The station sees a general frequency of three trains per hour per direction, all now provided by Northern Trains:

• Two suburban trains per hour to Manchester Oxford Road via Irlam (serving most local stations)
• Two suburban trains per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central (as above)
• One fast train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street stopping only at Warrington Central and Liverpool South Parkway en route
• One fast train per hour to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly[3]

TPE services stopped calling there in May 2018, as a result of the new Northern & TransPennine Express franchise agreements coming into effect in spring 2016. All services are now provided by Northern Trains,(who have also taken over the management of the station). The fast service runs to and from Manchester Airport (all TPE services from Liverpool now run via Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Victoria) and will be eventually marketed under the Northern Connect brand.[4]

History

The station was officially opened by British Rail Chairman Sir Peter Parker on 31 July 1981.[5] Constructed at a cost of £750,000, it was the result of cooperation between British Rail, Warrington New Town Development Corporation, Warrington Borough Council and local bus companies.[5] Bus interchange facilities were provided at the station, which served a developing residential and commercial area.[5] The initial service provision was 50 trains per day.[5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birchwood railway station.

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

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Padgate		Northern Trains Liverpool-Manchester Line		Glazebrook
Warrington Central		East Midlands Railway Liverpool-Norwich Peak Hours only		Irlam
Warrington Central		Northern Trains Liverpool-Manchester Airport		Manchester Oxford Road