Notes: When work began on the new station it was important to minimise disruption to rail traffic. In order to keep the trains running the eastern side of the new station was built first alongside the 1850 station (on its east side) but at a lower elevation. Many streets had to be demolished........

When the new station opened in part on 12 December 1886 (the eastern side) work could begin on the western side, and the remaining sections of the original station from 1850 were demolished. The new facilities opened completely 2 July 1888. On 13 August 1888 the Exchange Hotel,which provided the frontage to the station, opened: it was owned and operated by the LYR and cost £140,000 to build.

The station and hotel fronted directly onto Tithebarn Street. It was four storeys high and built of red sandstone. At its centre two archways formed the entrance to the station for pedestrians and cabs. To the left was the entrance and, to the right, the exit. Having passed through the arches and under the hotel passengers reached a cab circulating area surrounded by shops. Steps led into the main area of the station; either side of them there were brick-built offices, refreshment rooms, parcels offices and staff accommodation.

There were ten platforms beneath a ridged iron glazed roof that allowed light into the station. The platforms were numbered from the east side, platform 1 being the easternmost platform and platform 10 the westernmost. The platform faces were arranged as six ‘islands’. Between platforms 3 and 4 was a wide roadway for road vehicles to collect and deliver goods and parcels. They reached the roadway from a large entrance on the east side of the station, at the southern end of the platforms.

In the circulating area, south of the platforms, were two timber booking offices, one to the east and the other to the west. The western office sold tickets for local services whilst the eastern one catered for long-distance passengers.

Beyond the platforms to the north two turntables were provided, one situated amongst the approach lines on the eastern side whilst the other was alongside the approach lines on the western side. Two signal boxes controlled the approach lines. Immediately north of the station was Liverpool Exchange No 2, with a brick base and a timber upper. Further north was Liverpool Exchange Number 1 which was timber built and supported on legs above the running lines.

By 1900 so busy had the Southport line become, because of the spread of housing that it taxed the accommodation at Liverpool Exchange to the limit. The LYR was also concerned that it might lose business from the southern end of the line because municipal electric tramways were opening up on parallel routes. The solution proposed by Sir John Aspinall, the LYR General Manager, was to electrify the route to Southport and introduce multiple unit trains. Aspinall trains. Aspinall presented proposals to the LYR board on 28 May 1902, and in October of that year authorisation was given to create an electric route using a live rail to Southport and, beyond, to Crossens. Work began on 8 March 1903. At Liverpool Exchange platforms 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were electrified. On 22 March 1904 a partial electric service began, and from 5 April 1904 the Southport line passenger services went completely electric. A problem occurred at the main power station in Formby, and a full steam service had to be reintroduced on 11 April 1904. However it was rectified by 13 May and the electric operation was resumed.

On 3 December 1906 electrification progressed along the Preston line as far as Aintree, and over the next few years it was extended twice until it reached Ormskirk on the 1st April 1913.

On 1 January 1922 the LYR merged with the LNWR, but a year later on 1 January 1923 that company became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). The LMS also took over the LNWR, giving them control of Liverpool Lime Street station. They also had a third share in the CLC which remained a separate company. The other two-thirds ofthe CLC shares passed to the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). However, the LMS ran trains from all three Liverpool main line termini. Despite this, competing services still ran between Liverpool and Manchester from all three stations, although the fastest LMS services went from Lime Street. (The services from Exchange were slowed to 45 minutes to ease the stress on the locomotives). With regard to long-distance services the LMS concentrated its Scottish expresses, Windermere, York and Newcastle services in Exchange.

On 30 June 1929 an excursion train from Hull collided with the hydraulic buffers at platform 4. Thirty-eight injured passengers were removed to hospital, but of these all except two were discharged the same day; Forty others complained of injuries or shock but were not sent to hospital. A report into the accident blamed the driver for entering the station at too high a speed.

The Liverpool Blitz began on 9 August 1940. The city’s railways were a target for enemy bombers, and damage was caused to the approach lines to Liverpool Exchange. In December 1940 a viaduct north of the station received a direct hit and collapsed. No trains were able to run into the station, so extra services were provided from the CLC Liverpool Central to Southport Lord Street to convey commuters. Although the route was much longer, the extra trains helped, and they ran from 24 December 1940 until 5 July 1941. Wooden trestle bridges were built over the site of the collapsed viaduct to enable electric services to be restored. The line reopened for them within days, but no steam-hauled main line services were able to run into Exchange until 18 August 1941: they terminated at Kirkdale, passengers transferring to buses or trams. In May 1941 Liverpool suffered the worst raids of the war, and a section of the roof at Liverpool Exchange was badly damaged and had to be demolished. The roof section was at the north end of the station on the west side. After June 1941 the raids eased off, with last being on 10 January 1942. Train services at Liverpool Exchange did not return to normal until late 1942.  In 1946 the colour-light signaling scheme was completed.

On 1 January 1948 Liverpool Exchange became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region). At first services remained broadly similar to those in the LMS years. Electric commuter services remained frequent and busy, and longer-distance services to Manchester, Blackpool, east Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland ran from the station.

On 2nd April 1951 the electric service to Aintree via Linacre Lane ceased. Only two stations closed as a result, and passengers could still reach Aintree on the direct route via Kirkdale; otherwise Liverpool Exchange remained very busy throughout the 1950s.

One of the most outrageous proposals of the Reshaping of British Railways (Beeching) Report 1963 was the closure of the Liverpool Exchange to Southport commuter route, as well as the line to Wigan Wallgate via Rainford Junction. To transfer rush-hour passengers from the efficient and heavily used Southport route to road transport seems incomprehensible unless – as suggested by cynics – it was to provide an opportunity for the Minister of Transport to reject a proposal, demonstrating that closure was not automatic. Liverpool Exchange–Ormskirk–Preston was not earmarked for closure by Beeching, but was reviewed and reprieved in 1966. Official publication of the Wigan Wallgate line closure proposals lwas on 15 November 1963, and closure was eventually refused on 20 December 1967. No record has been found in Hansard of the enquiry into the proposed closure of the Liverpool–Southport line.

On 5 March 1967 platforms 1, 2 and 3 were taken out of use. The tracks were soon removed and the area was infilled and used for car parking. This was probably due to the cessation of regular steam-hauled trains on local services. DMU’s had been introduced onto many of the non-electric services from 1960; DMU operation required fewer platforms.

By summer 1968 the Liverpool Exchange to Glasgow Central Sunday expresses were the only remaining scheduled steam-hauled passenger services in Great Britain. Many enthusiasts headed to Liverpool Exchange at this time to photograph and travel on the last services.

The last express services to Glasgow ran from Exchange on Sunday 3 May 1970. Direct services to Preston finished the previous year. This left the station with only the electric services to Southport and Ormskirk and DMU’s to Bolton. The electric services still ran at a high frequency.

The last departure from Liverpool Exchange was at 23.35 on Friday 29th April 1977: a special service to mark the station’s closure. It ran to Liverpool Lime Street - which lay less than a mile away - via Wigan Wallgate. Although the station officially closed the next day its booking offices remained open until Monday 2nd May, issuing tickets for the usual destinations, but on replacement bus services.

Both Liverpool Exchange No 1 and No 2 signal boxes were manned until Sunday 1 May 1977 although no trains actually ran. The signalmen were on duty to oversee asset recovery operations. Shortly after the last train had departed on the Friday night the approach lines to Exchange were disconnected at the point where the link line diverged (the former Liverpool Exchange Junction)..

Northern Line passenger trains served Liverpool Moorfields station from 3rd May 1977, the first departure from Moorfields being for Southport at 06:07.

Click here to see information about passenger train
services at Liverpool Exchange

Timetable from and route map by Alan Young.

Sources:

• An Illustrated History of Liverpool’s Railways – P Anderson – Irwell Press 1996
  
• Merseyrail Electrics – The Inside Story – T B Maund – NBC Books 2001
  
• Disused Stations – Lost Termini of North West England - P T Wright – Silver Link Publishing Ltd 2010
• The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Vol 1 – J Marshall – David & Charles 1969
• The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Vol 2 – J Marshall – David & Charles 1970
• Hansard – closure procedures
• Merseyside electrics – J Cadwallader & M Jenkins – Ian Allan 2010
• Seaport to Seaside – J W Gahan – Countyvise 1985
• Railway stations of Merseyside and district – P Bolger – Bluecoat Press 1994
• Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology – M Quick – RCHS - 2009
• Merseyrail pocket timetable – Liverpool, Rainford, Wigan & Bolton 3rd May 1976 until further notice – British Rail
• Merseyrail pocket timetable – Liverpool, Ormskirk, Preston 3rd May 1976 until further notice  – British Rail
• British Railways London Midland Region timetable 13th June to 11th September 1960 – British Railways
• British Rail London Midland Region timetable 14th June 1965 to 17th April 1966 – British Rail
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable 17th of Sept 1956 to 16th of June 1957
• LMS Time Table July 18th to September 11th 1932

To see stations between Liverpool Exchange and Wigan click on the station name: Liverpool Great Howard Street, Kirkby Royal Ordnance Factory, Rainford, Rainford Junction, Upholland 1st, Wigan (LYR) 2nd
and Wigan (LYR) 1st.

See Also:
Liverpool Moorfields

See also: The 1886 Liverpool Exchange Approach Lines