Fazakerley railway station

Fazakerley railway station is a railway station in Fazakerley, Liverpool, England. It is situated on the Headbolt Lane branch of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network.

History
The Liverpool and Bury Railway (L&BR) was authorised in 1845, but while it was under construction, the L&BR amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) in 1846, and the M&LR in turn was renamed the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847. The line opened on 20 November 1848; one of the original stations was Simonswood. This station was renamed twice: it had become Aintree by 1850, and in March 1860 it took its present name Fazakerley to avoid confusion with the nearby Aintree station on a different line, which had opened in 1849.

At the time of opening, the mileage of the station was 29+1/2 mi from Bury, but this has since been amended to 31 mi from Manchester Victoria via Wigan.

To the north-east of the station is Fazakerley Junction, 30 mi from Manchester Victoria, which is where the North Mersey Branch once headed westwards towards Gladstone Dock. The branch has closed, but the junction remains as the point where the double track out of Liverpool becomes single track for the last few miles into Kirkby. The line eastwards was singled in May 1970, though through running beyond Kirkby (to Wigan Wallgate and Bolton) continued until the inauguration of electric operation in May 1977.

Facilities
In common with most Merseyrail stations, it is staffed throughout the day - the street-level ticket office opens 15 minutes prior to start of service and closes at 00:25 each evening (including Sundays). At platform level, there are digital display screens, timetable posters and shelters on each side; a P.A system also provides automated train running information. The ticket office is linked to the platforms via a footbridge - this has a lift installed on each side to provide step-free access. There are cycle racks for 4 cycles and secure cycle storage for 20 cycles.

Services
The station is currently served by four trains per hour in each direction during the day time Monday - Saturday. In late evenings and on Sundays services are reduced to two trains per hour in each direction. Services are operated using BEMUs.

In the future, the service will be increased to up to four trains per hour in each direction as more battery operated Class 777 trains become available.