Canada Dock Goods Station

Liverpool RJD 42 — This 1909 map shows the line as the red line from Edge Hill to Canada Dock via Tuebrook. The branch after Kirkdale station is to Alexandra Dock.

Overview[]

The Canada Dock Branch is a 4-mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long railway un-electrified line between Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock in Liverpool, England. Canada Dock railway station was a station on this line Canada Dock Branch near Liverpool's Canada Dock. The the London and North Western Railway line's original route is from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Canada Dock. It was later extended to Alexandra Dock and Seaforth Dock, along with a link to the MDHC railway lines. The branch enters a cutting to the south west of Kirkdale Station.

Canada Dock is a dock on the River Mersey and is part of the Port of Liverpool, near Kirkdale. It was the last and biggest designed by Jesse Hartley, opening in 1859. The dock was expanded in 1862, but damaged by a fire did break out in 1893 which caused £50,000 of damage. Business continued after the fire with the importation of meat and wood. Canada Dock Goods Station served the dock.

History[]

Canada Dock railway on 1 July 1870 as Bootle, but it was renamed Canada Dock on 5 September 1881.

The line was opened in 1866 between Edge Hill and Canada Dock, with passenger trains running to Canada Dock from 1870.

The liner RMS Lusitania was refitted at Canada Dock, including the installation of twelve 6-inch guns, in WW1.

The only took place following a The was a complete rebuild haapened after World War II, with removal of the problematic tidal basin, with further improvements during the 1950s and 1960s as the dock became a base for cargo liner companies such as Harrison Line, and as a ro-ro berth during the early 1990s.

The station was closed to passengers by the LMS on 5 May 1941, as a result of damage caused the previous day during the Liverpool Blitz. It was patched up in the early 1950s and the goods operation continued until 1982, when the branch was considered surplus to requirement and closed from Atlantic junction.

Passenger numbers were declining on the line and the service would have been probably removed on or about 31 May 1948, the date next door Spellow station closed to passengers.

The line continued to be used by regulary, primarily to provide a convenient Southport to Liverpool Lime Street connection to long haul mainline trains untill October 1977

Near by Stanley cattle yard closed in 1971, along with the goods station that it supported, thus reducing freight traffic to the dock.

The now demolished Liverpool Overhead Railway via Canada Dock (LOR) station operated from 1893 until 1956.

The remnants[]

The line was lifted between Canada dock and Atlantic Junction. After closure the Pasinger station was left derelict until it was demolished in the mid 1980s and the goods station was left derelict until it was demolished in the late 2010s. The land has subsequently been redeveloped. The track short path is protected in case it requires it's reinstating.

The remaining line section (Bootle Branch) is currently a busy freight-only line and is sometimes referred to as the or Seaforth Container Terminal Branch (SCT). It is the only to the Port of Liverpool. It is reckoned that approximately 70% of the North West of England's freight runs through Liverpool's docks.

Canada Dock still remains in use, handling general various bulk cargoes and as a site for processing and storage of scrap metal. There are also plans for a freight terminal at Parkside near Newton-le-Willows.

Mersyrail plans[]

A plan was propsed that that the stations on the 4-mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long Canada Dock Branch railway line in Liverpool, would reopen in 1977 as part of the then new Merseyrail network and it still remains a possibility in the future if Merseyrail decides to extend their current network.

Mooted re-instillation[]

Canada Dock railway station was a station located on the Canada Dock Branch near Canada Dock, Liverpool, England.

There have been serious plans on reopening to passengers with Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C. stadia both located on the line's route and due to the construction of Liverpool2 container terminal at the port of Liverpool the line will increase in freight traffic. The single track line leading into the dock estate would be double tracked and signalling at improved Earlestown to allow up to 48 trains a day to enter the port. The work on the line is expected to be completed by 2019.

Also see[]

Liverpool Wavertree (UK Parliament constituency)
Notable UK stations 1945 to 1990