Bootle Oriel Road railway station

Bootle Oriel Road railway station is a railway station in Bootle, Merseyside, England. It is situated near the town's Victorian civic centre, opposite Bootle Town Hall, although the surrounding area is now largely residential. It is located on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.

History
Bootle Oriel Road railway station was opened as Bootle on 1 May 1876 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) on its Liverpool Exchange to Southport line (the former Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway) to replace two stations, Bootle Village and Miller's Bridge, it was sited between them. The station was constructed by Dransfield and Company at a cost of £6,684 (equivalent to £ in ).

The station was built largely of "yellow glazed bricks with an over-abundance of roofing supported on numerous iron columns". There are four platforms, the centre ones being a wide island, connected by a subway. the booking office faces onto Oriel Road and there is a cab rank.

There an additional two tracks that avoid the station on the western side behind a wall descending to Bankfield Goods Yard.

The station was renamed to Bootle Oriel Road on 2 June 1924.

Most of the services through the station were going to or from Liverpool Exchange and Southport, there were additional commuter services on this line that terminated at Blundellsands and Crosby prior to electrification in 1904 and Hall Road afterwards. From 1906 to 1951 services also ran through the station on a route from Liverpool Exchange to Aintree.

Passengers from the London and North Western Railway's Bootle Balliol Road station could access the station via a long sloping footpath and a short walk along Oriel Road.

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922 and in turn was Grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Nationalisation followed in 1948.

In 1978 the station became part of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line (operated by British Rail until privatised in 1995).

Facilities
There is a booking office where staff are available 15 minutes before the first train until 15 minutes after the last train. Both platforms can be accessed via ramps or lifts. There is car parking for 4 cars and secure cycle storage for 24 cycles, plus toilets and a payphone. Train running information is provided via automated announcements, digital CIS displays, customer help points on each platform and timetable posters.

Services
Trains operate every 15 minutes throughout the day from Monday to Saturday, to Southport to the north, and to Hunts Cross via Liverpool Central to the south. Sunday services are every 30 minutes in each direction.